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{ August 26, 2002 }
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Soggy surprise.
I should have guessed. Birthday celebrations in my group have been extreme for a while. I should have known that I wasn't going to get away unscathed. Some birthdays have turned to cake-fights, with especially the ladies smearing icing on everyone's faces. Others have degenerated into water fights, with mostly the guys wrestling each other, while others fill pans with water to soak each other. In either case, the favorite victim is whoever is unfortunate enough to have their birthday celebrated.
I didn't expect another birthday celebration, since I had already had two, but Monday morning, Quique, one of my assistants in the group invited me to dinner that night at his house. I was slightly suspicious. In the afternoon, Merphran, my other assistant called. Something fishy was going on for sure. When I arrived at Quique's, I brought him the sheet music for a Mozart sonata. I was going to play the beginning for him on the piano, but he said, "No let's eat first". Strange, he's usually enthusiastic about classical music. As I walked in the dining room everybody in the group was there to surprise me. They did, but my pride was too great for it to show.
We played charades for about an hour. But soon their machiavellian designs began to emerge. From the moment the birthday cake was brought in, I immediately snatched it from the hands of Gabby, who had brought it in. But, I wasn't quick enough for Karla, who smeared my face with icing. Being a peaceable guy, I raised the cake as high as I could to protect it from further tampering, and put it on top of a shelf, until the singing stopped and it was time to blow out the candle (26 candles is a little much). When I did, everyone shouted for me to bite the cake (a Honduran custom, and an invitation for someone to bury your face in it), so instead I grabbed a corner of the cake, tore it out and bit it. Then I ran into the bathroom to clean up.
In the bathroom I found several pails, which I promptly hid in the closet. I couldn't be too safe, not that the mischief had begun. Later they would be retrieved and used against me, even with my precautions.
When I got back to the living room, everything was normal for about half an hour. I thought I was finally safe. The cake was delicious, and we had a good time talking.
After a while, Karla started pleading at me to let them soak me. The guys came in and carried me off, kicking and screaming, to the yard. I would get an arm or leg loose, only to have it snatched again. Gerardo was filling a large plastic pail with a garden hose. The guys slowly brought me closer and closer to it, until Gerardo let me have it.I tried my best to get the others as wet as possible. I attacked Gerardo and everyone let go and ran. I got control of the hose and prepared to charge, only to discover that the hose was at most 8 feet long. The guys were all at a very safe distance and began to regroup. One of the ladies opened to kitchen door, only to get sprayed in the face. It was Karla. Revenge is sweet.
Words are not enough to describe the epic battle. I was half-blind (it was dark outside and I didn't have my glasses). The guys would gang up on my and stuff the hose down my shirt, splash me with water collected in pitchers and soak me with plastic bins full of water. Then I would charge them and they'd run back in the house. At one point I spied Lucky's (Quique's dog) water dish, and I had a formidable weapon to exploit. I promptly bathed Merphran, with it, to his dismay. To my credit I can say that most of them were drenched, and none escaped totally dry.
Nearing the end of the battle, I heard Karla, who was around the corner of the house banging on the front door, shouting, "Let me in! Let me in!" I then knew that revenge would be even sweeter than before. Therefore I lured the guys to follow me to the front door, and just as they were about to soak me, I got out of the way and let Karla have it. I then climbed over the fence and went home to get dry.
After I came back to get my glasses and wallet, one of the treacherous guys came to me offering a right hand of truce. In mock disgust I refused to accept it for a while, but then broke down laughing. We had all had a blast. After cleaning the house, I gave all the guys a ride home. As Gerardo was taking the girls in a different car, Mari shouted out, "We'll miss if you ever go somewhere else, and I bet you'll never forget this birthday!" In the end, all of us felt really glad to be friends, and to have had fun together.
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