Day 17 Birthday Girl!

Today was better than I could have imagined. My mom gave Cassie a homemade Birthday sign like the ones she makes at home to hang up on our door. I love my mom for always thinking of little things like that. Today was hard not thinking about what I would be doing at home right now and all the sweets I would be divulging on. I walked out and lots of the town people I don’t know wished me a Happy Birthday. I went to the clinic and the whole staff sang me Happy Birthday and gave me a cross-stich that said Ghana on it. At the clinic I spent most of it just talking with the other nurses. I let them braid my hair while they took a million pictures of me on their phone. A few of the nurses walked me home and bought me mangos for my birthday. The town was really quiet because they had to shut power off to the city from 9-7. I could not have been happier about loosing electricity because that meant that my friend couldn’t have announced the party and they won’t have electricity to power everything. I’m so happy they were willing to throw the party for me but it would have been way too much for me to handle. I went home and took a little nap before I heard Cassie and 8 little kids singing happy birthday to me from outside the gate. They knew it was my birthday and followed her all the way home from the school to sing to me. The kids here always put a smile on my face. Then around 5 Jackie, Lauren, and King came over and the real fun began. We still didn’t have electricity so we played some fun card games and cooked by flashlight. The crepes were AMAZING. I could have eaten 10 of them. We brought out nutella, peanut butter, jam, and bananas to put on the crepes. King didn’t like them too much but Matilda LOVED them. She wants us to make them for her again. I brought out the Oreos I bought at the Abruni market yesterday for our dessert even though the crepes were sugary enough. We haven’t had that much sugar for a really long time so we were acting a little crazy. Then I opened the present from my thoughtful and creative momma. She made me a Texas pillowcase with an African print border. Madam Esther gave me some Milo and delicious crackers as a gift. We did dishes and then I got a surprise call from my parents! It’s so nice to hear their voices and talk to them. It feels weird to be 20 years old. In my short 20 years the Lord in more ways than I can count has blessed me. I have the best family anyone could ask for and best friends I consider as sisters. These past 20 years have been incredible but the best are yet to come. I’m excited for the adventures the Lord has planned for my next 20 years. Thank you to everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday. This birthday was unforgettable.

XOXO

Natalie