Feliz Cumpleaños

Turning sixteen during an exchange in an almost unknown country might not have been the best birthday I could have imagined, but my host family managed to make it the perfect day. 

In the morning they woke me up singing Feliz Cumpleaños and after I got dressed we had breakfast together. The living room was decorated with pink balloons and golden sixteen balloons. We had Neapolitaner, which I have to admit is amazing, and fresh French toast with marmalade and tea. 

At lunchtime I called my parents and some of my friends and my grandparents and I almost forgot that it could have been a bad thing to celebrate my birthday away from home or without my family. 

Later, my exchange student’s cousin came over and we had lunch together. My host mum surprised me with German potato salad and although it wasn’t the same as my dad’s, it was really good. For the second dish we had pasta with tomato sauce because I told them it’s my favourite dish. For dessert we had tiramisu, some homemade lotus cheesecake and coffee. The sweets were really good and they even gave me presents. My host mum made me a bag and they also gave me a jumper with embroidered letters that said ‚good vibes‘. These words refer to a nice event we did together last month. 

Then my German friend and her exchange student came over and we went to the garden together because my exchange student had made me a pink dinosaur piñata which I had to open. When I did, we collected all the sweets inside and went back inside. Then we got ready to go to the bowling centre. When we got there it was a bit crowded so we had to wait a bit, but then we could finally start and it was great fun for the four of us. 

After we finished our games, my host dad drove us to the city centre and the four of us went to a burger restaurant called Burgerheim. We had very tasty burgers and chips and drank some sodas. After we finished we walked around Logroño talking and laughing a lot.

It was just a great day and I don’t think I can think of a better way to spend it.

Lenja