When I came to the Philippines I didn't plan on anyone I was with knowing that my birthday would go by while we were here. Well, on Sunday I became friends with Yet-yet on Facebook, and she found out! The lovely Ryskamp family and Leo and Yet-yet went out of their way to make my 23rd birthday great! My day started out by being greeted by these signs when I walked down the stairs. They had stayed up the night before and made them. So nice of them!
The day was fairly normal with school in the morning and then a trip to the beach in the afternoon. We also had Cebuano lessons, which I love.
Here's a 23rd birthday selfie at the beach, because I will probably never have a birthday at the beach again, seeing as how my birthday is in January :)
That night, Rix said we were going out to dinner and that I got to choose the place! I had no idea where to go, so we went downstairs and asked "the guys" (the filipino men who work for Rix) what some of the best places were here to get some authentic food. They suggested Captain Ribbers, so that's where we went! It was so fun! Our plates were these giant banana leaves, and we all kind of shared.
They brought our food out in these huge platters that had a little bit of everything in them! I tried it all, and I liked it all! Even those little fish :) I felt so brave!
When we got home I was given these cute birthday flowers.
Then we had a delicious cake that was made and decorated so beautifully by Leo's mom. Angie bought the candles, and they were awesome! Seriously, so fun! Everything was just so great!
Then the next morning, the 27th here, I continued to receive the birthday love from everyone back home. I had emails, messages, and Facebook posts all wishing me a happy birthday. It really is amazing what a kind word or two can do for someone, and I was humbled to be the recipient. What fun to be celebrated twice :)
No comments:
Post a Comment