Birthday celebrations

What an absolutely perfect day I had! I was given permission to take J and a few of his friends out for lunch for his 16th birthday. He picked 3 other boys who also had birthdays in February, which was really nice. We had to sit around and wait for one of the psychologists working at the orphanage to come and escort us, because at this point they don't trust me enough to take them out alone. I am hoping that will change in the future. We walked forever and then some, to get to his favorite restaurant. The psychologist was wearing high heels and one point she took one of the boys and went in a moto the rest of the way. I guess she trusted me enough to leave me a alone for 10 min with the other boys.
We ordered ceviche and a mixed seafood platter and they all ate until they were stuffed. I didn't really like ceviche when I first tried it a few years ago, but now I love it. Afterwards we walked down to the harbor and looked at the boats, fishermen and lots of beautiful birds. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I would have loved to go on a boat ride, but we got a call from the orphanage to hurry back. My boy's grandfather, aunt and cousin had travelled by bus to celebrate him and they brought duck, rice and a birthday cake, so we ate more food. I loved duck, especially the way they had prepared it.
It was so good to see J with his grandfather and he was so happy they had come to surprise him. They were so short and cute and now I know why he is so short even though he is sixteen. I doubt he will grow much taller. His grandfather was 74 years old, the same age as my dad, and he was a farmer, same as my grandfather. After the duck we shared the birthday cake with all the other boys.

I found out many of them and some of the girls had either the flu or food poisoning and 5 of the kids are in the hospital today. The boys who were sick really wanted to eat cake but couldn't. So sad to see their disappointment. I hope they all heal quickly!