Birthday Fun in France!

Well, as you may or may not know, yesterday was my birthday. So, you may find a description of the day below.

Well, there actually isn't a whole lot to tell, so I'll skip to the more exciting parts. It was a bit frustrating, having a birthday on a Wednesday. 1) It's the day we have the most classes 2) it's the day I have two hours of my least favorite class 3) Half the class had a standaradized test in the afternoon, which cut into party time 4) I had choir/orchestra in the evening, which also cut into party time.

In the afternoon when people were taking their tests, I decided to break out and let some a couple of girls put a little make-up on me. Scary, I know. I think they must have done a pretty good job though, because I got several compliments throughout the day on how nice it looked, and it was fun to be pampered like that. So Sarah decided we need to capture this momentus, new decade day by taking a few pictures. Normally, as most of you know, I'm not all about the pictures, but I thought it might be fun, so off we went. We got really into it and had fun. We went up to a cute little neighborhood, and Sarah helped me pose and she snapped away. So...this might seem a little conceited, all these pictures of me, but I thought some of you might want to see them.

After the picture taking, we had vocal ensemble practice (a smaller group of about 5 of us that sing together), when I explained to the director that I might not be in orchestra or choir later that night since it was "mon anniversaire". She was pretty nice about it, so I was relieved to have the rest of the night free. A group of girls met in the lobby and after much debate and discussion, we finally left for town to try to find an Indian, or some kind of ethnic, restaurant. It was pouring rain, so we nabbed our local chauffer (a student here who bought a car and offers rides as a buisness), and crammed all seven of us in his tiny European car, with one in the tiny trunk (see pictures). After walking and walking and not seeing a whole lot, (I think we were in the wrong part of Geneva), we finally stopped at a nice Thai looking restaurant. It was a lovely meal, very elegant and tasty. I need to grab some pictures Sarah took of the restaurant. Leo, who was already in Geneva from his classes, met us at the restaurant. The girls decided they suddenly had a craving for McDonalds and ice-cream, so Leo, our new guide for the night, escorted us to the best McDonalds in town. The girls were shocked at the size of the McFlurries for the price, and Leo gently tried to explain that this is why Americans are more obese than Europeans. We got back to the border where our ride was supposed to pick us up, still in the pouring rain, and I quickly sized up the situation and the number of people and decided his little car wouldn't make it up the hill to the campus with eight this time instead of seven. So Leo and I walked back, and I must say we had a lovely time. I think it might have been miserable for one person to talk back alone, uphill, in the rain, but with the good company of each other, a good discussion, (accompanied by us singing "Yellow Submarine"), we finally made it back at about 11:00 PM. I thought the fun was over there, but wait....

Today I was kind of expecting a normal day, which it was, until lunch. I was peacefully eating my salad, when three of the boys I'm friends with, Steven, Marvin, and another guy, came up behind me, one says "it was your birthday yesterday, right?" Yes... At my acknowledgement, they hoisted my chair up in the air, and proceeded to raise it up and down while leading the entire, full, cafeteria in a round of Happy Birthday. Wow. Talk about a public display. Apparently, in the caf that night during dinner they were talking about how us girls were out for my birthday, and the rest of them felt terrible that they had forgotten and gone all day without anything being done, so they decided to do something the next day when I wouldn't be expecting it. I heard from a friend later today that according to Steven that night, they were going to give me a birthday celebration the caf had never seen. They certainly did. I was certainly not expecting that. I wish I had a video to share with you of that most awkward and embarassing moment of mine. When they finally put me down, I was speechless and apparently beet red. According to one girl, I was "so red I was almost purple".

So there you have it. I'm still expecting a package in the mail from the family, so the birthday celebration will extend a bit further. I must admit, it was weird and a little sad not being around my family and close friends for my birthday, but it was a good day still, and I can now say I have two decades under my belt.