LEX

a birthday on foreign soil

so yesterday was my 26th birthday. it was quite different from any other birthday i have ever had. yes, there was the traditional dinner out and chocolate cake. but everything leading up to that point was quite different. not that my birthdays have ever been super exciting. actually, they've been quite normal days, for the most part. yesterday is what i would now consider fairly normal, but would not have considered normal 4 months ago.

i got up and did not shower (the first thing that was not normal 4 months ago) because, when you're gonna go sweat through your clothes before you even leave the house, really, what's the point? i then went and taught literacy and english classes in a haitian bateye. teaching is not abnormal, but being in a haitian bateye, well, i can definitely say this was a first for my birthdays. it was also the first time i rode on a motorcycle with a complete stranger - on my birthday.

i went from there to visit some people in a different haitian/dominican bateye. camille and i went to visit a haitian family whose son/brother died last wednesday due to a machete accident. this, also, is not a typical way for me to celebrate my birthday.

26 years ago i was born to a loving family in the united states and have been given everything i need to have a comfortable life. 26 years later i am celebrating my birthday with those who will never set foot on american soil, nor have the priveledges i will probably never be denied.

i went from a day of poverty in the bateyes to a nice seafood and pasta dinner. two vastly different worlds collided. and to be honest, the best part of my day was not the posh dinner.

posted by Alexia & Jeffrey @ 8:44 AM