Yep, on Friday, January 22nd, 2010, I turned 25 years old. Yikes. As far as birthdays go, it was pretty good.
If nothing else, it was certainly a day of good food. For breakfast, Ashlee used a few sent-from-home ingredients and made breakfast burritos complete with real tortillas, bacon, and tapatio-like hot sauce. Then for lunch she prepared "pizza-dillas" -- a snack from my childhood. As the name implies, it's a combination of pizza and quesadillas. We even snagged a few large pepperonis from Laura to complete the meal. There's a picture above of me digging in. For dinner we did our usual Friday night routine of eating at the Turkish restaurant (grilled chicken and Schwepes soda water!) and then we came back to our house, where Ashlee had prepared a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. I know, I'm spoiled.
Gift-wise, I made out like a bandit. My friends Laura, Nurbol, and Khala got me an awesome camel wool vest, Ashlee picked me up a new wool scarf, and my fellow English teachers all chipped in and bought me a dombra, a traditional Kazakh instrument -- they even inscribed their names on it. I was really touched.
Although I was tempted to take the day off, I still went to school and taught my usual classes. I guess word had gotten out that it was my birthday and every single student wanted to shake my hand and wish me a happy one. Each class I taught insisted on singing to me and I could hear "Happy Birthday to You!" every time I stepped in the hall. A number of students even presented me with small gifts: drawings, pens, and a couple of origami roses. They are really sweet kids. My fellow English teachers organized a small luncheon in one of our classrooms. It was complete with horse sausage sandwiches, fresh fruit, red wine, a birthday cake, and techno music. It was there that they presented me with the dombra. They told me I must take start taking lessons soon.
So yeah, even though I'm half-way around the world and it's the coldest part of the year in one of the coldest countries on the planet, my birthday still rocked.
2 comments:
Scott, Happy Late 25th Birthday! Look at all you've accomplished and only 25 years old. The Dombra looks really neat. I hope you do take lessons. Sounds like you had a great birthday on the other side of the world. These are things you will remember always. Love and Happy Birthday, Gma Donna & Gpa Steve
Pizza-dillas! I remember those. I think I survived a whole summer off those and toast. I was always thelaziest cook. Good thing I have kay now......
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