Since November 2009, I knew that I would be spending my oh-so-important 21st birthday in Peru; an idea that both excited me and made me kinda anxious.
1) I would be spending my birthday away from family and friends from home for the first time AND on the other side of the world!
2) Even more so, it was my 21st so it HAD to be special!
BUUUUUT, One thins I was sure of was that it would certainly be a birthday that I would remember and I'd have a slightly interesting story in years to come of how I spend my 21st in South America. And also, in March of this year, Hannah, Heather and Lisa had to decided to come and volunteer in Lima being here for my birthday = amazing!
So how does one celebrate their 21st in Lima???
Originally, I had planned to get 'dolled-up' and spend the night at a casino (something I'd never done before) or hire a party bus.
When talking about a party bus in Lima, I'm not talking about the infamous Boogie buses in the UK, filled with 18 year olds or hen dos screaming girls and Smirnoff Ices; Lima's are far more sophisticated. It's all about £12 each to get drunk, entertained and toured around Lima for a few hours, clearly more classy....
but I thought 'what the hell' everyone has to have a drunk 21st, no?
BUT after signing all the guys and gals up for a night on the bus, the company told Shadia that they were all booked up for the weekend when I wanted to celebrate my birthday, the weekend before, Saturday the 28th= MEGA FAIL.
So after a long think, I conjured up a plan to go to my 2 favourite places in Lima on the Saturday night in question, San Antonio, a gorgeous restaurant, followed by Sargento Pimiento, a really nice, relaxed 'rock bar' which feels like a step back into an English indie club, PERFECTO.
The plans being set, the next and most crucial issue was... THE DRESS. I HAD to find a beautiful dress to wear didn't I?!
My friend Shadia suggested going to a place called Gamarra, a large set of shops based in a shady area of Lima but selling dirt-cheap clothes which come straight from the factory line.
With money saving tucked away in our bras, and the dress mission set in our minds, off all 5 of us went!
And there she was... hanging there so beautifully... THE dress!! cream lace and hot. So then it was crunch time, was it going to fit. And BOOM she fit, with a cheeky help of spanks underneath, it was perfect and just what I had wanted! Just don't tell anyone that it was only £8 as it could pull off as a Topshop number ;)
The week before the celebrations, we decided to add some extra activities onto my birthday celebrations, the Zoo! I had been wanting to go since I arrived in Lima, and Shadia suggested we bring all our host family siblings, most of us having siblings between 10 and 13.
So I brought along Henry, Hannah brought the maid's daughter, Heather brought her 2 'sisters', Lisa brought Valeria and her friend from school and Shadia of course wanted to join in the fun too!
It was a really lovely afternoon, but the park was so big that we didn't get to see everything, much to Henry's disappointment haha! We had to get back and get ready for our night out!!
The night flowed perfectly, I got ready in Lisa's (just like being back at uni!) with some dodgy red wine called Gato (translation : cat) which explains it all.
Good food, wine, cocktails, the best company, the perfect music accompaniment and not such a bad hangover the next day made the perfect night out : SUCCESS!
But the celebrations didn't end there, my birthday wasnt until the follwoing Tuesday, the 31st.
Afetr manic attempts to receive my birthday parcel from my family, I woke up bright and early at 6am on my birthday to finally discover its contents afer 4 days of it sitting in my room. Galaxy chocolate, PG Tips, clothes, PJs and cards filled with emotional messages; made me feel at home for half an hour.
Then it was celebration times with my host family with lots of love and kisses at the breakfast table and so I didn't feel so far away from home at all! Even in school all the teachers (some who I'd never even worked with) all wished me 'Feliz Cumpleanos' and the kids were singing to me all day.
At 11am, I was called to the reception to find chocolates and flowers that had just arrived for me sent from my Mum, Dad and sisters, could this day get any better??
Then I received a phone call from Sam all the way from Liverpool, I was wrong, my day was well and truly made.
After school, I skyped my parents really quickly thanks to crappy internet then joined Heather, Hannah, Shadia and Tulo for our favourite frozen yogurt in Miraflores. Then Heather and Hannah treated me to a manicure before coming back with me to my flat for the most important part of the day, my 'party' organised by my host family.
Shadia, Tulo, another volunteer, Shadia's mum, Violeta from school, Heather, Hannah and my host family were all there. Lisa had to miss out on the fun because she was so ill :(
The home-made Pisco Sours (Peruvian cocktail) were flowing and the meal was fantastic, duck with a special type of rice and all my guests were given a special chocolate souvenirs, how sweet!!! Not forgetting my birthday cake especially made by the family and Hernan's (my host dad) emotional speech of how happy they were to have me with them.... tears were definately very near!
Then 10.30pm arrived and everyone was pooped! Bedtime came after a long and wonderful day!
And Lisa, managed to help me consume a lot of chocolate and cake the next day :)
ABSOLUTELY PERFECT DAY!
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