Birthday Blessings

Words cannot even begin to express how absolutely incredible my birthday was. The volume of love and happiness that was all stuffed into one day completely blew me away! (warning, this will be a long one!)

It's taken me awhile to be able to write about Tuesday. I had to let all the goodness settle, allow time to give it perspective, and take a few days to be certain that it was all real. 

Everything about Tuesday was wonderful. The morning started out normal enough, but by staff worship, the birthday festivities quickly began to pick up. A Skype date and birthday wish scavenger hunt kept me busy in the library all morning, and kept my mind successfully off the sex-ed health class that I would shortly have to teach. Surprisingly enough, teaching the oh-so-mature freshmen about the reproductive system ended up being one of the highlights of my day. I started out class by telling them that this was one of my favorite days, and one of my least favorite. My favorite because of my birthday, and my least favorite because of the section we were covering. Without another word, all the freshmen broke out into one of the most enthusiastic versions of the Happy Birthday Song I've ever heard! Before we started, I prayed for their maturity levels, and thanked God for giving me such a wonderful class that I love so much. They were understandably rowdy and ill-behaved throughout my PowerPoint, but the questions and the energy that came out of that class made the high level of awkwardness completely worth it! I love those 23 kids SO incredibly much. I love praying for them, I love helping them (most days), and I love their smiles, even when they're trying to use them to manipulate me. 

During lunch, I noticed something strange start happening. EVERYONE seemed to know that it was my birthday! Turns out, Tanzi had told the senior class that morning to wish me a happy birthday, and they took their assignment very seriously! Every time I turned around for the whole day, there was at least two students there to yell out "Happy birthday miss Emily!" regardless of whether they were my students or not. At lunch, I was sung to for the third time, but with no less enthusiasm than the first. 

I spent all afternoon in the library supervising study hall with Jacqui like any other Tuesday afternoon, but everything was different. Even though study hall was busting at the seams with noisy kids, I had so much fun just hanging out with everyone. For one day, I didn't feel like a super mean study hall enforcer. Saron and I took pictures, I successfully hushed people, and I even got papers graded and put into the grade book. 

Saron's a little crazy, but I love her

Polly brought me some pretty fabulous cupcakes after study hall, which I shared with the SMs who were left on campus. I was going to head over to the cafe to see what was for dinner, but the Raymond's not so subtly stopped me and told me to just skip the cafe and come over in about 20 minutes. Derek pointed out that we really didn't need to be speaking in code anymore, but I still appreciated the attempt at a surprise. :)

My scrumptious birthday cupcakes!

At the Raymond's, all of the SMs (that's right! ALL of us!) were able to eat together, at least for a few minutes. Yani had made possibly the best tortilla chili soup ever, guacamole, and a vegan chocolate cake that could knock your socks off! Definitely the best meal I've eaten in a while.

I left the Raymond's, full and wonderfully satisfied. I left because I was supposed to work in the library tutoring, but when I arrived, Jacqui took one look at me in my slightly soggy state (it had been raining) and ordered me to go home. I protested, but she even went so far as to push me out of the library, and lock the door behind me. She even asked the girls if they wanted me there, and the resounding NO came at me mixed with huge smiles and giggles. I finally surrendered and started heading for home. I hadn't gotten very far, before one of my students came running after me. I was sure it was about the biology homework that I had assigned, but instead, she pressed 200 KSH into my hand and told me that it was a present for my birthday. I tried to give it back, but she ran away and locked me out of the library (again!). I was flabbergasted. She is so incredibly sweet, and I love her so much. 

The love and support coming to me from every direction was, and still is, completely overwhelming! I half expected the clock to strike midnight, the spell to be broken, and my students to remember just how mean and strict they really think I am.  

Jacqui captured some pretty attractive pictures of me....

Kenyan sunsets take my breath away daily