My birthday was yesterday, and it was absolutely wonderful. I felt very loved (and missed) by my family and friends back home, and received lots of Facebook posts and emails, as well as some phonecalls. It was somewhat difficult being away from home, especially from my family and my twin brother Chris, but I made the best of it here. Today is Theresa's birthday, my good friend who is living here too, so we had a joint birthday party last night. I went to Kigali and got a really tasty cake, which I brought back on the hour-long journey back on the public bus. We had a party at Le Grand Restaurant in Gitarama, which is Theresa's and my favorite place to eat in town. We were joined by some of our closest Rwandan friends - Jean Paul, Hadidja, Gatera, Jeremie, Gilbert, and Isaac, as well as our American friend Hadley. We had wonderful food - soup, beef and fish brouchette, chef salad, chapiatti, and bread. The conversation was flowing and we all had a fantastic time together.
Our birthday cake was quite large and we were able to put candles on the top of it. My mom had included birthday candles in the care packages she sent a couple of weeks ago. The restaurant became pretty crowded by the time we brought the cake out, and lots of patrons were interested in what we were doing. We made a bigger spectacle of ourselves when the lights were turned out for the cake lighting. After the cake we opened the presents that some of our guests had brought.
I was so thankful that having my birthday in Rwanda felt like I was celebrating it at home. The people I have come to love in Rwanda were there to make this happen, and I am so grateful that I have reached this point in my stay here.
Thank you to everyone, both in America and in Rwanda, who made me feel so loved.
Our birthday cake was quite large and we were able to put candles on the top of it. My mom had included birthday candles in the care packages she sent a couple of weeks ago. The restaurant became pretty crowded by the time we brought the cake out, and lots of patrons were interested in what we were doing. We made a bigger spectacle of ourselves when the lights were turned out for the cake lighting. After the cake we opened the presents that some of our guests had brought.
I was so thankful that having my birthday in Rwanda felt like I was celebrating it at home. The people I have come to love in Rwanda were there to make this happen, and I am so grateful that I have reached this point in my stay here.
Thank you to everyone, both in America and in Rwanda, who made me feel so loved.
2 comments:
Sounds like an excellent birthday abroad -- "Unlimited juice? This party's gonna be off the hook." I am so glad to hear you are doing well and enjoying life in Rwanda, Matthew. T-minus 55 days until your return! Let us know if you fly into Dulles with a layover. It would be awesome to see you, but if not I'm sure we'll hang out in State College over the holiday. The Lord bless you and keep you!
your friend,
josephus
Hey, Happy Birthday to you and Theresa! God bless. :)
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