Peruvian Birthday Celebrations

I'm another year older and I've spent my first birthday in Peru! Yay!

Birthday celebrations started on Thursday when the PROMESA teachers got together to celebrate the September birthdays. We had lunch together at the Shultz's and my wonderful cook made a yummy meal of Peruvian chicken and rice and fruit pizza. There were three of us that had September bdays: Me, Ruth & Illari!! As a birthday gift I recieved my very first Peruvian hat!!!



The birthday gals: Me, Illari & Ruth

Another special part of my birthday was a bicycle trip to Ollantaytambo with my friend, Juan Miguel. We rode our bikes from Urubamba (about an hour outside of Cusco in the Sacred Valley) to Ollantaytambo. The Sacred Valley is so beautiful with the river and hills and mountains!!! We took some dirt paths and although our bikes were made for such paths, my body was not. I was so sore and tired by the end. I don't think it's a good idea to take a 3 hr bike ride after not riding one for over a year. By the time we got to Ollantaytambo we were walking our bikes around on the cobblestone roads. The town is so cool with its original stone walls and streets and water system! We also hiked up to view some ruins and enjoyed a yummy lunch. Don't worry, we took the public transportation back instead of riding our bikes. I had a really great day but I can't imagine being able to make it back alive on bike.

Who are these crazy people?

The long and beautiful bike ride.

The beautiful Sacred River in the Sacred Valley!

Me and Juan enjoying a yummy lunch in Ollantaytambo. Either the food was really good or we were _really_ hungry!!

We passed a little girl crying in the street and we cheered her up by taking this photo.

Ollantaytambo and its stones and water system and me!

On Sunday (the actual day of my birthday) we had a small party in my house with friends from church and school. Dawn made an Oreo cheesecake that was delicious and we had all kinds of goodies thanks to my friend's package (ie swedish fish and reeses peices - thanks Jen!!). We played Dutch Blitz and people were in my house from 3 until 8:30pm!! It was a very nice way to celebrate my birthday!!! Yay! thanks to all my new friends who made my birthday special this year!