11 June

I'm really not a fan of birthdays, but I feel I need to talk about mine yesterday, because it was just so awesome. Not because of anything big, but all the little things that added up to remind me of how lucky I am.

First things first - opening day of the World Cup! I've never watched a world cup before, and I had no idea how the tournament works, but it's in my home country, so the anticipation has been beaten into my head for the past 3 1/2 years, since the time I first saw the countdown in the Johannesburg Airport in December 2006. And the excitement has been growing exponentially since then. Until now, I kept thinking to myself of all the negative ways this is going to effect the country and its people. What will remain when the World Cup is finished, and the lives have not been changed in the way the people have hoped or been led to believe? Will they be worse off than they were before? But now that the time has come, and the World Cup has finally begun, I've put aside those negative thoughts, and I just imagine that I could be there with them, and I'm blowing my vuvuzela in spirit.

Ok, so aside from the World Cup, here's how my day went: I had a Physics exam at 8:30 in the morning, which didn't seem like a great way to start the day, but finding out immediately after I finished that I got a 100% felt pretty awesome. And then I went to work, which is boring as always, but the office closed at 1:00, as it will every Friday during the summer.

So I came home at 1:00 on Friday afternoon, with nothing to do for the next 6 hours. I laid down in bed and picked up a new book, and got comfortable. And within minutes I was sound asleep. I woke up a couple hours later, checked the internet for World Cup updates, and then my cell phone rang. I picked it up, and saw on the caller id that the number started with +49. My heart almost exploded. This country code is all too familiar to me. Germany. What an amazing, awesome surprise to hear Lili's voice on the other end. We could only talk for a few minutes, as you can imagine the cost of calling an international cell phone, but it was so unexpected, and so great to hear such a familiar voice that I miss so much.

And within minutes of getting off the phone with Lili, I got a call on skype from Jojo. This is just too much! Two calls from Germany within minutes! And since skype-to-skype calling is free, me and Jojo could enjoyed a less rushed conversation. It was awesome. And it makes me miss our time in South Africa so much, but it also builds up the excitement for my trip in August (as if I wasn't excited enough already). By the end of the day, I had heard from all of my germans. But luckily, this isn't such a rare thing. It's amazing how we've been able to keep in such close contact through distance and time. I think that was one of my biggest fears when leaving South Africa in 2008. There are few things I am more thankful for than my germans. I don't think they'll ever know how appreciative I am of their friendship. Jojo told me yesterday that it's so funny to see how I've changed from when they first met me. But what I don't think they realize is that a big part of my change is because of them. Although I'm older than all of them, I really look up to my germans. They're role models to me, and I've learned from them how to be a better person. These relationships mean more to me than they could ever know. And if for no other reason, it was a perfect birthday because I was reminded of how lucky I am to have these 6 best friends in my life.