Turning 28 Years Old

My 28th Birthday

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was celebrating my 27th birthday here in Ecuador. Last year I spent a crazy night on a Chiva Bus and don't really remember much of what happened after that. Now, a whole year has passed and thats a scary thought. The older I get though the less bothered I am about getting there. What I mean by that is, before I wanted to celebrate each 18th of September in style - going out, doing things big, usually drinking too much. Last years mayhem sort of happened by chance. I would have happily taken a few quiet drinks in a bar and be done with it, but, at that time - I had a big group of friends who loved to party, and that particular weekend was one where many people were leaving the city for good. As such, last year became a birthday and multiple-leaving event all in one, and hence a night that turned into chaos. This year was almost the same. Maisa's sister, Grace, was soon to be leaving for Canada to study English and my good friend Henry was returning back home to England. However, with Grace's Canadian visa not turning up on time and Henry leaving some days after my birthday, it turned out that I would have the day all to myself. As such, this years 18th of September passed far more smoothly - and I was still as happy as ever.

Firstly, I awoke at Maisa's house to the entire family walking in and singing happy birthday to me while holding a birthday cake with a big 28 on it. It's lucky I am a big strong man - because otherwise I would have looked at that 28, realised how old I am now and then burst into tears. The cake was delicious. I spent the entire weekend with Maisa and her family, as well as Henry. On two of the evenings Maisa, myself, Maisa's sisters and Henry, plus a few friends went out for meals and then some drinks. Maisa treated me and everyone in fact, to both events, which was very nice of her. We also found out that there was a fun-fair going on in town. They don't happen very often in Ecuador and this was the last weekend before it moved on to some other South-American country. As such, we all headed over to smash each other with bumper cars and ride rollercoasters that made us all feel positively sick. I think behaving as childish as possible was the perfect remedy of turning another year older.

I had never seen a fun-fair like this before. I mean they had all the things a fun-fair in England has but everything looked somewhat more dangerous here. They had one ride that didn't have safety bars on it and people were being thrown all over the place. Maisa told me that that is how it was supposed to be and yes everyone usually comes off with some form of injury. Maisa's sister, Jessy, ended up spraining her arm on the bumper cars. Welcome to Ecuador!!!

It was a nice weekend, and a good birthday too. Im glad its over for another year though and I can now finally carry on with normal day-to-day life. Just a final note: As I get older I really do feel I am getting more wise with each passing year. For example, it was soon after my birthday, whilst walking down a normal street in Ecuador that I finally figured it out. It came to me in a flash of brilliance and it should be commended by something prestigious like a Nobel Prize, because finally I did it, I figured out why Ecuadorians - have a problem with walking...............................