Feliz Cumpleanos

Peruvians like get-togethers. A birthday offers a perfect opportunity to play games, eat, and embarrass someone else. Rachel Tarvin was the blessed object of this loving attention this past week. For three hours, we sat and played simple but fun games, only a few of which were directed at embarrassing people. I was told it was a very tame social. No birthday is complete without the lucky birthday person getting their face smashed in the cake – it is as traditional as opening presents. Aunt Rachel knew it was coming. Maria oh-so-innocently brought the cake over to Aunt Rachel, pretending like she was going to just hand it to her. Taking advantage of her six foot height, Aunt Rachel swiped the cake away, stood up on her bench (way out of reach of the short Peruvians), and took a big bite out of one edge. This satisfied them and they got a good laugh at her adroitness.