Parabens pra voce!

Thank You all for the plethora of birthday wishes. It is great to hear from people from home. I spent a very nice birthday. My host mom took me to lunch at Mahi Mahi, a ritzy waterfront restaurant where you can jump off the pier and swim in the ocean or go in the pools on the deck. It was an absolutely gorgeous day--warm but not too hot. Every time you overheated you could just dip in the water and immediately be refreshed. We spent the afternoon there.

Here are some pics from the day:

1. Mae and I eating lunch (the vegetarian selection was limited because the place's specialty is fish, but they custom made me a salad which was nice).
2. This guy jumped from the upper platform and dove into the water. Needless to say I did NOT try this myself, and preferred to use the ladder to descend into the water. (Although perhaps I should have jumped in because I did step on some coral getting into the water and a piece is stuck in my pinky toe and I can't walk on it)
3. Another picture of me and my host mom

4. Here I am, age 20!5. This is the homemade strawberry cake my mom made. Yet another culinary dessert masterpiece by her.