indescribable love for half birthdays.

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I love birthdays.

I love half birthdays more, I think.

especially mine.

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Activities of December 2:

There is nothing like walking out of your house on your half birthday and having a bunch of guys tell you they love you. Talk about self esteem boost! Even better then that is getting a card saying I love you. Thank-you.

Our white skin attracts everyone and their dog. Lots of beggars, children selling soft, wanna-be boyfriends, salesmen selling a variety of items, or people who simply want to talk with the farengie. We have our usual followers who know us by name, many of them include street kids, like the ones above. We have a lot of fun with them; passing out glow sticks, buying soft from them, lots of laughing and painting their nails, like in the picture above.

They loved getting their nails painted and I loved painting them. Many people were interested in what we were doing and took our picture. It was a good half birthday party activity.

You often see homeless or very poor people wearing sandals made from car tires. Their resourcefulness is amazing. I have been wanting a pair. After searching and wondering we found them at the Marcado ( The largest open market in Africa). These are some of the fellows making them.

I love doing things out of the ordinary. Just like being in the bus station, getting tire shoes is something forengees don't do. The locals got a big kick out of it and so did we.

After our shoes were made, of course, we decided to wear them the rest of the way home. Unfortunately, they were incredibly uncomfortable despite the fact that they were custom cut out for us. It would have been more comfortable to walk bare foot then to endure the tire cut into our toes. It didn't take long to greatly appreciate real shoes.

Half a cake for half a birthday :)

Luckily, I got one and a half cakes for my half birthday. The kids arranged the candles in a heart, I felt loved.

A whole 18 and 1/2 candles!

I have been an adult for a full half year, crazy.

Pretty cool thing about Ethiopia you can buy movies for 20 Birr, about $1.25. There are boys that walk around selling them, all of which are pirated. Now that I know them, they give me the heads up if they are good quality or not. Thank-you. All the kids, Alyssa, and me watched and loved it. We highly recommend it. Nothing like watching a Disney on your half birthday.

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My half birthday was amazing.

After seeing this, I bet you all will celebrate yours now too.

I love June 2nd and December 2nd.

And getting balloons on those days...

or any day for that matter.

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Also, since I'm sure you're all wondering, the pictures are black and white for dramatic effect, since I'm getting so old and everything.