I wasn’t planning on celebrating my birthday this year. I thought I’d just buy myself some peanut butter & apples, video chat a few friends, and call it a day. Twenty-three isn’t a huge milestone, and besides, I’m in Nepal! What more could I want? I don’t need presents (I can’t fit much more in my backpack anyways). What more could I wish for? I’m already living an adventure.

Yet, when my host family found out I had a birthday coming up, they immediately started planning the celebration. They told me that we needed to have cake, presents, and dancing. I told them presents and dancing weren’t necessary, but I never turn down birthday cake. Akriti (my 13-year-old host sister) would be in charge of the cake. She told me I would need to find vanilla, chocolate chips, and Nutella. She would take care of the rest.

The whole family was excited to celebrate my birthday, but Ananta (my 8-year-old host brother) was the most excited of all. He was mostly excited for the cake, but I felt honored, nevertheless. The week leading up to my birthday, he was on the countdown. “Three days until your birthday… Two days… One!”

And then it was December 21st, my twenty-third birthday.

I woke up at 5:30am, too excited to sleep. I love celebrating birthdays and hope I never become one of those people who believe it’s “just another day.” I quietly made my way down to the kitchen with my headlamp and made myself a big thermos of black tea, unsweetened. I went back up to my room with my piping hot tea in hand. I pulled out a big jar of peanut butter that I’d bought in Bharatpur the day before when I was getting supplies for my cake. I sat in the dark drinking tea and eating apples with peanut butter as the sky outside turned from night to dawn. When there was enough light, I laced up the knock-off Adidas I bought in Kathmandu and went running through the fields of Chitwan.

If my birthday had ended there, that would’ve been enough. But the day was only beginning.

After I got done with my routine freezing cold morning shower, I went to the kitchen to prepare black masala tea for the family and other volunteers. I love making masala tea. Not only do I love the end result, but I enjoy the process. There’s something therapeutic about it: grinding the spices, throwing the tea in, and watching the boiling water turn from clear to rich brown.

This morning as I was making the tea, Akriti came in with a smile and something behind her back… A birthday present! It was small, just a few hair clips and a hand-written note. I was touched. A few minutes later, Ananta came in and gave me his present and a drawing (he was not going to get shown-up by Akriti). In a plastic box were a small bear figurine, a pom-pom, and some WWE wrestling stickers. Just what I wanted!

I brought my tea upstairs for the second time that day and got on my laptop for a video call with some close friends back home. Though we’ve been staying in touch via email, I hadn’t seen their faces in over three months. It was a fantastic reunion and I couldn’t stop smiling! We might have talked all day (or all night for them), but there were things to be done on the farm, birthday or not.

The task of the day was cutting grass around the fish pond, one of my favorite chores! We had worked on the pond three other days and had about a third of the perimeter to go. The three other volunteers and I grabbed some sickles (hook-shaped knives used for cutting grass) and headed out to the pond. Three of us worked in the water cutting the dense aquatic reeds and the last person worked on the bank hauling up the piles of reeds. It was about 75 degrees and the sun was warm on our backs. It felt nice to be knee-deep in the cool water, despite the occasional fish brushing against my leg.

After about three hours of work, we had finished the perimeter of the pond. We rinsed off the pond scum and laid out in the sun to dry. Anjana appeared with afternoon tea along with a birthday surprise… Crepes with lemon & honey! We sat on the front porch for the rest of the afternoon, relaxing and admiring the clean banks of the fish pond.

When Tara & the kids returned home from school, preparation for my birthday celebration began. Tara went out to the pond to collect some fish for my birthday dinner. Although I’ve been here for nearly two weeks, this was the first time we would be having fish. I was honored! Akriti and another volunteer got to work on the cake. It would be baked over a fire in the family’s new brick oven. The baking process is a little different than the electric ovens we have in the U.S. I was both intrigued and excited for my brick-oven wood-fired birthday cake!

After the cake was underway, Akriti grabbed my hand and took me to get dressed up… in a traditional Nepali saree! It was the whole nine yards: the vest, skirt, long beautiful cloth, bangles, and bindi (forhead jewel). Of course, Akriti had to do my hair and make-up as well (one of her favorite activities it seems). When I looked in the mirror after about an hour of beautification, I was in awe. The woman staring back had gold eye shadow, dark eyeliner, and bright red lipstick. Her hair was pulled back into french braids, and she wore a stunning blue and gold saree. It wasn’t Laura Berry in the mirror. I was Laksmi Adhikari.

Dinner was a feast! Of course, we had heaps of dahl bhat, but to accompany it we had relish, turnips, cucumber, and whole fried fish. Yes, I ate the fish head. And dessert? Brick-oven wood-fired birthday cake! It was frosted with Nutella and decorated with flowers. On top, they had painstakingly written “HAPPY BDAY LAURA” with mini chocolate chips. Happy Birthday was sung, the cake was cut, and served on recycled scratch paper. The cake both met and exceeded my expectations! There were no leftovers.

Then came the dancing. At first it was just me, dancing in front of the family and other volunteers. This was nothing new, of course. I’ve found myself dancing alone to Nepali songs in front of a crowd quite a few times. It’s becoming the norm. Soon other volunteers started to join in, and by the end, everyone was packed into a small room showing off their best Nepali dance moves. Anjana and Akriti were clearly the best dancers of the group, but I’m starting to get the hang of Nepali dancing.

Around 9:30pm, we decided to call it a night. Just before I went to bed, Tara appeared at my door with one last bite of cake. He told me it was tradition that he feed me the last bite. I laughed and obliged, despite having already brushed my teeth. After he left, I lay in bed, replaying the events of the day. It had been an incredible birthday. I did everything from work in a fish pond to dance to Nepali pop wearing a saree.

I wonder what future birthdays will hold…