Birthday Bashes!

So I found out this Monday there is such a thing as a birthday fanatic. Just as there are pyros for people obsessed with making fires, there are people obsessed with planning the biggest and best birthdays ever (definitely that this is not a bad thing)! Monday was the first bithday during training for someone in the group and 30 minutes before the end of the day music started to fill the lecture hall we were all sitting in. Then, 5 people dressed in the traditional Peruvian garb entered the room playing their stringed instruments and sining 'feliz cumpleanos!' Amazing. Firstly, it was fabulous because I think everyone was getting their fill of looking at pictures of people with ghonnorea and syphilius, and secondly beacuse there was a band who had come to serendade Travis, who's birthday it was.

They serenaded him with several songs, then a girl from our group got up and with her passionate voice she sang a merriachi song dedicated to Travis in honor of his birthday. With all the girls in the group dancing in a circle around him, while, one at a time, we all danced with him it was fabulous. To top it off another group of people had ordered a cake, so at the end of the day everyone won! Travis got an amazing birthday celebration (which happened to be his day back from being sick), the lecture on STI's got cut short, and we all got graced with a Merriachi band and then had cake! The fun has just begun, however! With our party-planning leader and the bar set high for what to expect at each birthday, the group seems fierce and feverish to continue celebrating each one in a unique and huge manner.

With 57 people in our group, there are several birthdays to happen during training. The second one happened to be tonight. We agreed to celebrate it after training sessions so important messages such as STIs wouldn't be cut short. At 5 the cake arrived, the pinata was stuffed, and the Barney costumed was rented from the local library. :) Yes, Barney. We weren't able to organize for the two clowns to show up, so we settled with the next best thing. This Barney costume was made for the average Peruvian male height of 5'5" and worn by one of the tallest men at training, Chris, who happens to grace the tapemeasure at 6' at least...probably 6'2", but details don't matter. Wearing a costume that didn't pull up to Chris's shoulders, was entiiiirely covered in dust (and probably hadn't been worn in years - literally) with stains and spills all over it, Barney appeared to grace the guests in dinosaur happiness, dust, and probably tons of contageous diseases. :) It was miracious! Needless to say, the next birthday is next week and I will update on what fabulous events occur.