Is the 30th Birthday Any Different?
Me at 29…
The answer is : only if you are an expat!
On 4th of September was my birthday. I turned 30 (but I prefer to say I am twice 15).I guess it should be a big milestone in somebody´s life or at least this is what I was told by people around me: hey, 30 is the new 20, 30 is the best, now you can really start living and so on.
Well, 30 are not at all different from 29, because if you don’t believe in fairytales, you should know that nothing changes overnight.
Me at 30. Any difference?
The only thing that has totally changed is how I spent my birthday.
Until this year, I always had parties (big or small, size doesn´t matter :P) with my closest friends. I was always surrounded by the love and caring attitude of my family and my best friends’ texting/call/ showing at the door just to say ¨happy birthday¨. Yeah, I know, I was such a lucky girl.
Happy b-day and farewell from my dear friends in Rotaract for my 29th birthday
My best friend and her boyfriend dressed in Real Madrid shirts..Brought me a Cristiano Ronaldo B-day cake!!!
I am using past tense because this year was different. I am now living and working in Madrid, so I couldn´t go home for this event and none of my friends could come to me. My first thought, weeks before my birthday, was that I would spend it alone. Not the best way… but hell, what can you do when you are an expat who doesn´t have many friends? Turns out I wasn’t completely right. Or maybe I’m just a lucky girl!
I had an amazing birthday: dinner at my place, with my dear Mexican friend Jorge cooking (no gift could equal his delicious food), with my friend Andreea (we met here in Madrid and saw each other a couple of times before) and Patrick, new expat in Madrid.
B-day dinner at my place. I love my (new) friends!
Mexican food, beer and wine, ice-cream and great talks about all the topics in the world made me realize the following things:
- If you keep your heart and mind opened, you will find friends wherever you go!
- Different doesn´t mean bad! Different is just not in the same way you use to do it!
- Things do not always happen the way you want or plan…so think fast and find an alternative. Could turn out to be awesome!
- Being an expat when big events are happening in your life is not easy! But you can choose to see the empty part of the glass, which refers to the old ways you use to do things or you can chose to see the bright side, which means that accepting challenges is a way to grow. To understand more, in a deeper way, to be more tolerant and to appreciate things differently.
I´ll stop at 4 but I know that I won´t stop accepting challenges! I am kind of an ambitious dreamer… so expat life goes on!
PS Best gift ever, look at this lollypop!!!!
My tasty yummy lollypop
