 |
| Ready, duck face and all. |
About 2
weeks ago we celebrated the 9th anniversary of my 21st
birthday (i.e. my 30th birthday). Hard to believe that my 20s are
over!
This year
was way more fun than last year’s birthday, which came right on the heels of
Ilana’s emergency appendectomy and moving for the 5th time in 2
months. This year Ilana, my personal event planner, diviner of awesome, duchess
of details, and partner extraordinaire... planned the pants off this party and
one of the best parts was how little I had to do because she outsourced so much
of the work. That might sound funny, but here everything has to be done by hand
and from scratch.
Back home in the States you might just go to the mall and
grocery store and get the food, a gift, a card, party supplies, a cake and viola...
you have a party. Down here we have to be a bit more creative with how we
celebrate special occasions. For example it took 7 days of searching to find 10
pounds of chicken. I don’t think anyone
is better at making a special occasion from scratch than Ilana. Thanks baby.
Also, thank
you to everyone who came and made my 30th such a special event. I’d like to wish a special thanks to my
in-laws Edda and José for smuggling in those party decorations 2 months ago;
Harmony and Travis for making super decadent chocolate-chocolate cupcakes, Lizzy
and Suzy for making chocolate-iced old-fashioned doughnuts, Duch for the
stogie, Emily for the booze, and Kristin for the devilled eggs.
 |
| 1 VSO + 2 World Teach + 2 Project Trust + 7 Peace Corps= KARAOKE |
Thirty got
me thinking a little bit, and since I have the time, I made a summary of all the
things I’ve learned in my first 30 years.
0-5:
-Everything
has its place. Food goes in the mouth, poop goes in the potty, crayons go on
the paper, and little brothers go in a half-Nelson.
-If you’re
nice to other people, other people will be nice to you.
-Rules
should always be followed. Adults are masters of the universe, never make
mistakes, and all have my best interest in mind. I better listen to them.
5-10:
-Other
people have needs and wants other than me. I should treat my brother well
because he’s the only one I’ve got.
-Some people
will say one thing and do another.
-Teacher’s
don’t live in their classrooms.
-My parents
have my back.
-Girls are more
interesting than annoying, but not by much.
10-15:
-I’d really
like to be cool and the best way to do that is to be like everyone else.
-Adults make
mistakes too. What’s important is always try to do the right thing and
admitting when you don’t.
-If I do
well in school I’ll get a good SAT score, go to a good college, get a good job,
and live happily ever after.
-It’s
annoying how my parents always seem to know exactly what to do.
-I’m apparently more interested in girls than
they’re interested in me. Older guys seem to be more appealing to them. Perhaps
it’s because they wear deodorant... look into deodorant.
15-20:
-It’s not
always easy to tell the right thing from the wrong thing.
-I’m
basically an adult, so why won’t anyone take me seriously.
-I got into
a good college.... but I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.
-I know my
parents have my back, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got everything figured out.
-Girls are awesome
but distracting. Deodorant helps get your foot in the door, but there seems to
be a lot of talking on the other side of the door once you’re in.
20-25:
-Many
mistakes later, the right thing usually seems to be the hardest option.
-I’m not
sure what I want to do forever, but this job seems like a good start.
- I’d like to
be cool and the best way to do that is not to be like anybody else.
-Shit, I’m
an adult. Maybe I should take something seriously.
- I’m better
at being in a relationship when I’m better at being myself.
25-30:
-I learn a
lot more from being wrong than from being right.
-Valuable
doesn’t mean it costs a lot of money.
-The best
friends are the ones who challenge you to be better.
-Hoping
doesn’t accomplish anything. Planning is a much better strategy.
-Damn I cost
my parent’s a shit-load of money!!!
- Wow! She
is awesome. I need to be the best version of myself to keep this one around.
Can anyone
give tell me what I’m likely to learn in the next 30 years?
 |
| Clearly also learned not to take anything too seriously. |
