My 27th Birthday… Celebrating Nica Style!

    Last week I celebrated my first birthday in Nicaragua! It was definitely different from any other birthday that I have ever had. It was crazy and messy, but fun and I feel incredibly loved!! So, that’s a good day! Here are a few pictures to try and give you a glimpse into my day:

    There is a birthday tradition here in Nicaragua to crack an egg of someone’s head for their birthday. Most people only get one egg, but I knew I had a lot of paybacks coming for all the eggs I have cracked on kids’ heads over the past 9 months. I started my afternoon with the first round of egg cracking which was 5 eggs. It was especially disgusting because Rosita kept smearing them all over my face trying to get egg in my mouth! YUCK!!! *See the video below for a better look at the egg smashing fun!

    Then Rosita wouldn’t even let me rinse myself off at the well. She made me stand in front of the well while she splashed water all over my hair, face, clothes, etc. It was really hilarious, but really just left me soaking wet and STILL covered in egg! Oh, and I discovered that being covered and dripping with raw egg does not entitle you to skip line at the well. I’m pretty sure I stood there for at least 5 minutes with egg running down my face and back waiting for the guy in front of my to fill to large buckets of water.

    Once I was soaking wet and still covered in egg, all I wanted to do was go and take a shower. I was in my room, towel in hand, when some of the youth came in yelling “Lisa there are a bunch of gringos here looking for you.” The World Race team that is here working with us all month made PERFECT timing and so I was able to greet them all covered in egg. I wonder if that counts as a good first impression?

    That night the youth threw my an awesome suprise party! I knew that they were planning something, but I didn’t know exactly what. Several of the girls went to a nearby house (still not sure who the house belongs to) to decorate while we were all in youth. After youth that night everyone went to the house and we had a great birthday party! I loved just getting to hang out with my teenagers and celebrate with them!!

    It’s a party in Nicaragua so of course it included DANCING!!! The youth performed a medley of dances for me and I had the chance to do some bachata dancing too. In Nicaragua there is NEVER a party that doesn’t include dancing and that makes my heart happy!!

    After some dancing and party games, I was put in a chair in the middle of the room and told to close my eyes and wait for a surprise. My surprise… MORE EGGS!! I know that my fingers are saying that my total was 7 eggs, but actually two more came after this picture giving me a total of 9 eggs for the whole day. I also found out later that Rosita had six more eggs for me, but some of the youth told her it was too much so she stopped after 9. HA! It was so gross!! Of course the party continued for another 45 minutes after this so I just stayed eggy for the rest of the party.

   A few minutes after round 2 of the eggs, it all started dripping down my face and in my eyes. I couldn’t get it out so Linda comes to my rescue taking her water bottle and throwing water in my face and flinging big glops of raw egg off of my eyes. For some reason this moment was so hilarious to me!! I stood there laughing so hard as she tries to splash clean my face.

   I got Rosita back for all her pranks by chasing her for a big egg hug. She slipped in the dirt which gave me time to catch her and rub egg and dirt all over her! It was such a perfect payback. I love it when I actually can get her because it doesn’t happen nearly as often as she gets me!!

    Of course then she returned the favor completely tackling me and rubbing mud all over my face, my hair, and my clothes. I just can’t beat this girl when it comes to pranks!!

   Then the last of the birthday messiness came with cake fight! It doesn’t matter whose birthday it is, I always end up with a face full of cake icing. My birthday, of course, couldn’t break this tradition. It was definitely my messiest birthday ever, but I loved celebrating with my loves here in Candelaria! I was disgusting by the end of the night. I think the part of my birthday that made me feel the most loved was that almost every still gave me big hugs at the end of the night!! They all know how much I love hugs. I was sure that I wouldn’t get any when I was that gross, but everyone just said “No importa” and gave me big bear hugs before heading home. What a great way to kick off 27!! It’s going to be a good year!!!