Friday, December 31, 2004
happy new year (and happy birthday to me...)
So it's my birthday today. I'm 25. Because tonight is such a huge party I decided that if I was going to celebrate at all I would have a little gathering the night of the 30th, since I didn't want to compete. But, in a string of ridiculous events that involved, at times, a broken water pipe, someone getting slugged by their ex-girlfriend, and me being locked in the house of people I hardly knew without them being home, the whole thing unraveled. This being my birthday and me being far from home, I was upset and had a little meltdown. I was also pissed at Márcia for various reasons I won't bore you with, except to say that I thought she was being insensitive about my birthday. In the end a small handful of folks came over, we ate churrasco, and I had a good time.
This morning I woke up and stumbled out to find the table laid out for guests and a big breakfast on top. I asked Márcia if guests were coming. She said yeah, her mom and some relatives. Which reminded her, could I clean my room since it was messy and her mom was coming? I said sure and cleaned the room. Then my friend Mariamma showed up unexpectedly. We had talked earlier about doing a thing with her photos on my computer, but the table was in use now and since we had guests coming it was going to be difficult to work on it, and I didn't know if we had enough food, so I tried to do it quick so I could get her out of there. Then my friends Mariel and Michelle showed up and, dense as I am, it still took me like 10 seconds to realize that Márcia's mom wasn't coming, that it was all lies, that the table was for a surprise party for me. I must say I almost started crying. It was so nice and thoughtful. I think that all anyone ever really wants on their birthday, or at least all I ever want, is to feel special and cared about, and a surprise party does that. Especially important when one is far from home. I instantly forgave Márcia for all her apparent callousness, knowing that this had been brewing the whole time.
So happy new year everybody. Thanks for reading. I'm about to go out. Salvador has a tradition where the color you wear on new year's signifies what you want from the new year: white is peace, yellow is prosperity, etc. I, like most people, am wearing white.
This morning I woke up and stumbled out to find the table laid out for guests and a big breakfast on top. I asked Márcia if guests were coming. She said yeah, her mom and some relatives. Which reminded her, could I clean my room since it was messy and her mom was coming? I said sure and cleaned the room. Then my friend Mariamma showed up unexpectedly. We had talked earlier about doing a thing with her photos on my computer, but the table was in use now and since we had guests coming it was going to be difficult to work on it, and I didn't know if we had enough food, so I tried to do it quick so I could get her out of there. Then my friends Mariel and Michelle showed up and, dense as I am, it still took me like 10 seconds to realize that Márcia's mom wasn't coming, that it was all lies, that the table was for a surprise party for me. I must say I almost started crying. It was so nice and thoughtful. I think that all anyone ever really wants on their birthday, or at least all I ever want, is to feel special and cared about, and a surprise party does that. Especially important when one is far from home. I instantly forgave Márcia for all her apparent callousness, knowing that this had been brewing the whole time.
So happy new year everybody. Thanks for reading. I'm about to go out. Salvador has a tradition where the color you wear on new year's signifies what you want from the new year: white is peace, yellow is prosperity, etc. I, like most people, am wearing white.
