.

I could not have wished for a better birthday that the birthday that I celebrated in Bolivia.

I woke up in the morning to the messages of my friends on my phone. I read the lovely birthday letter that Pia had sent me in the mail, and instantly put on the bracelet that she had made me. After eating breakfast, I left for work earlier than usual. Still sitting in the bus, Roly called me to with me a happy birthday, which put me in a bit of a sad mood that lasted throughout the morning. I had hoped that he would be waiting for me at work, but his call wishing me a happy birthday "de lejos" - from far away - killed that hope. I arrived at work to the kind embraces of my friend Betty, who lives at Plataforma, and who, on top of all, had got me a little bag as a birthday present. This lightened my mood, and giving a big hug to my little ones, Esteban and Edwin, almost made me forget my sad thoughts about Roly. As my other coworkers arrived, Plataforma came to life, and I spent my morning babysitting my two boys, watching videos and goofing around. Annai, my little favorite, clung to me all morning which made me laugh. She´s a case of her own :).

Since we had already celebrated my birthday at work along with my two coworker´s birthdays, I did not expect anything more. We had already eaten cake and blown out the candles the day before, so that we would not do anything else. Julian would come to work in the afternoon, so that we were not even complete - as a team.

As lunch hour approached, I took a break from the kids to wash dishes and take a breath. As I sat down to eat lunch with my usual group of kiddies, Blanca, a very clingy little girl of five, surprised me with a big, red flower.

"For you!" she smiled. What a sweet, little gift. I was super grateful. I gave her a big hug and a long kiss on the cheek. Then Gabri announced that it was my birthday, so that the kids applauded briefly and some wished me a happy birthday. Here, the birthdays are mostly interesting if there is candy or cake to give away, at least among the kids. That´s why the flower touched my heart.

Despite my initial doubts, Roly´s mom, Doña Marcia pulled me into a big hug to wish me a happy birthday and told me that Don Freddy, her husband, was waiting for me at the house and that there was a surprise. I thought, that they had maybe made me lunch, which brought an immediate smile to my face. When, however, Doña Marcia called the rest of my coworkers to come along to her house, I was completely confused.

As we all walked over to Doña Marcia´s house across the street - in the flock Betty, Chino, Gabri, Dani, Kaledth, Ricardo, and Pedro (a new volunteer from Poland), I had no idea what was awaiting me, just that Doña Marcia seemed very happy, smiling broadly.

In the patio a big table set with plates, a big bowl of mote, salad, and yuca awaited me along with don Freddy, grilling meat and fish - typical churrasco style with the charcoal on the ground and the grill plate above, raised a bit from the ground by bricks. Flashback - only the other day Roly had taught me to light the amber with newspaper and an empty glass bottle.

I hugged Don Freddy and thanked him and told him how beautiful everything was. As I turned around to the house, I saw someone walking out the door towards the patio where we were. Half covered by the towels hanging from the clothesline, I could not believe who was standing there, smiling. Covering my mouth by surprise, I half started running towards Roly who opened his arms to hug me. I did not let him go for about a felt half hour, whispering "I can´t believe it", at which he replied "Happy birthday, love". What a surprise. I can´t put in words all the emotions I felt at seeing him, joy, love, amazement, and absolute happiness aren´t big enough words to describe what I felt. Even now I can´t stop smiling at the memory. Never before in my life has anyone traveled 7 hours (one way) for just a day to see me and give me a hug and kiss on my birthday.

He told me how he had planned everything, with care, so that I would not find out that he was in SCZ. Even Betty, who is usually the most gossipy of us all, kept her mouth shut to make the surprise a real surprise. I had not even dreamed that Roly would actually come to visit me on my birthday.

Like they say here: me dejó boca abierta.

As we went back to sit with the others, everyone was happy to see me happy and smiling. We ate well, laughed a lot, and enjoyed the presence of each other, making jokes. Everyone at the table was in a good mood, which was absolutely lovely to see.

After finishing the meal, I though the surprises were over, but I was mistaken. Lauren, Roly´s sister, came to the patio carrying small cake plates, and Don Freddy brought a huge cake to where I was sitting. He called Roly over to give me the cake, which he did, wishing me a happy birthday for the second time. I was blown away by surprise and happiness.

The whole group sang me a happy birthday, and made me blow out the candle. Then, as it is the tradition here, everyone started chanting "Que la muerde, que la muerde", which means: bite the cake. So, I bit the cake, and Chino or Roly shoved my head into the cake as it is the ritual, so that I ended up with cake all over my face. I could not stop laughing. I had hoped for this.  We were all laughing, delighted as kids. The cake was delicious, and as we shared, one of the girls from the Comedor came by to give me and Daniela, whose birthday had been the day before, two super nice tops.

To finish the afternoon off, I stayed in with Roly, still feeling like in a dream but incredibly happy to cuddle up next to him and tell him that I love him.

At night I talked to my parents, and was, looking back, the happiest girl in the world.

I will not forget the kindness - cariño - of everyone who made this the best birthday that I can remember. Thank you so much.