What a birthday. What a party. What fun. As I had mentioned, it was the first time in a long time that I actually enjoyed my birthday, looking forward to it. Lily had made me a special gift, a picture of her on a horse in a self-made envelope and with a self-made paper frame. I got many hugs at the farmer’s market, even a few people singing “Happy Birthday” – in Spanish, English, German, Polish and Serbian. More languages than ever before.
Then, we had the party. It was a combo party, fundraiser for Lily’s classroom where quite a few things need to be fixed, plus my birthday. I really wanted a Jamsession, so that’s what I got. It was very stressful, as the morning was not a normal school morning, but last day of school and additionally the beginning of the Inti Raymi, the festival of the sun, one of the 4 mayor Kichwa festivities and the most important. The Waldorf school takes that seriously, and it’s always a very pleasant, yet weird mix of spirituality, community and fun activities.
This time, the kids and their sports teacher came up with a Gyncana, a kind of Olympics. Jumping 20m in a plastic sack, running, grab a long stick, run around that stick 20 times, run to a mud field where you have to crawl through the mud while water is splashed onto you, find a lace in the forest, run to the next station where you use the lace to be tied to the leg to someone else, and run three-legged until the end. It was fun. I was covered in mud; my trousers are ripped.
It was beautiful that Lily’s mom was there. It was the first time she attended one of those festivities at the school, and though it would be a strain on me, I’d like her to be more involved, for Lily’s sake. We went to my place afterwards, where Lily and I showered and tried to get the clothes at least somewhat clean. Then her mom took her for lunch, and I started to get to work on the party.
It was very stressful, as always, to organize the whole bunch of families. But it was quite the success, we made around $600 of the $1500 that we need to renovate the classroom and build a few more things. And it was a blast.
It seems like my enthusiasm about my birthday rubbed off. So many people came. So many of my friends. Even the ones that don’t really like other humans were there. Once the stress calmed down after my 4th cocktail, I started smiling from ear to ear. I got beautifully wasted, like really drunk, but happy drunk. And still able to play the bass in a way that inspired the rest to get into some nice improvisation.
I didn’t even mind cleaning and arranging until 2am, and then another 3h in the morning. Everything was such a mess. It was impressive. There was cilantro everywhere, some stains will never disappear. I stored all the left-overs, frozen or refrigerated, tried to clean as much as I could and went to bed. But it was worth it, all that work. Not for the money, but for the feeling. Absolutely.
What a great start of the weekend. Extended. I'm ripe for vacations, and I'll be in the Intag Valley starting Tuesday. This year was exceptional. The pendulum will swing to the other side eventually, but that's okay. These experiences will nourish me through times that might come. Let's go!
