The third birthday that took place in Mexico.

                    As usual, when I woke up on the morning of my birthday, I felt normal and unchanged. I was a little disappointed because it was my 13th birthday and that is when you become a teen; I should feel different right? I 'm not sure how exactly I expected to feel changed, but whatever I expected, it didn't happen!

                   I arrived at school and was pretty much the first person to arrive -- that was good -- I then had time to hide my birthday doughnuts from my amazing but food-loving classmates. Kevin came and didn't remember my birthday (not that I can blame him because I don't know his) and I didn't care to remind him for the fear of seeming stuck up so we just said hi and that was about it. Mafer came next and she gave me a big hug and told me that I wasn't little anymore which is like the opposite of what my classmates normally say to me which is, "Oh, you are so little!" We went downstairs to shoot some baskets, then Lore came in holding a small hand-made box that she had made. It was full of candy and with multiple panels of paper inside that said really sweet things. I gave her a big hug and we went upstairs (her dad is the first teacher of the day and he followed closely behind). Mafer gave me a cute pink candle on a little stand that Cowjie later bit (needless to say, I got quite mad at him). Ana gave me a bag of candy with little origami stars and one amazing rose (I believe).
                 For breakfast, Toño brought little baby sandwiches that had some sort of mild mole sauce in them. Evodio mentioned that I had promised to bring donuts for my birthday, and I told him that I had brought them but that they were hiding in another classroom. Those were the magical words for GAME ON. He then started running up the stairs to ransack all the classes in search of the donuts. I tried in vain to stop him but when Toño came up, he helped me hide them. He slipped into the room that Evodio was searching and as I tried to come in to protect the precious cargo, Evodio grabbed the door and the wall and blocked me from entering. He told Toño to keep looking but since Evodio was facing toward me physically preventing me from going into the room, he didn't see that Toño found the box, and carefully placed it in another corner and covered it in something else. Evodio eventually found the box but did not actually eat any. He kept trying to make deals with me saying things like, "What will you give me to not eat them?" and "Just give me one donut" (obviously I did not accept). These sorts of things are pretty normal between us and I don't mind them. Usually.......well except that time when he stole one of each of Lore's and Mafer's shoes and both my shoes and I had to put on one of Mafer's and one of Lore's shoes to go chase after him.
              After the English class that we very often have in the morning, we had swim class. I don't remember many details about that class besides the fact that Evodio had a fever and changed into his clothes but didn't get in. After, I tried to pass donuts out to everyone but some people didn't hear and thought I was excluding them (including my teacher) and so I got a stern talking to from my teacher who, after my explanation, gave me a big birthday hug as did my classmates.
              After school, my mom and I went to a pretty painful pedicure where they pushed and ripped off my cuticles. One of my toes started bleeding! After that, we went out to eat at Entropia where for dessert, I got a brownie with ice cream and homemade pound cake that Oscar made with my dad. It was a pretty successful birthday for me and I will never forget it.

Ana's present that she gave me

The box that Lore gave me

These next photos show how to open it (it is handmade)

The band holds all the walls of the box together

The candy, chocolate and sweet notes on the inside

Mafer's gift