My 24th.

On Monday, I turned 24.  Scary, I know.  But my mindset going into the week was that it’s just another day.  Like I’ve said before, American holidays and important days get easier and easier as time goes on.  I have never made my birthday a big deal, for the most part, so I knew that I wouldn’t be disappointed. 

Birthdays in Cambodia are a very interesting topic.  Typically, asking people how old they are is very confusing, since children turn a year older on Khmer New Year, which is in April.  I once asked someone how hold he was and he said that he was 24, born in 1989.  Most people don’t have birth certificates, so some people don’t even know how old they are.  Sometimes people don’t know what year they were born in, but many times they don’t know the exact date of their birth.  I’ve asked some people when their birthdays are and sometimes they say “March” or “May”.  It makes me laugh and I tend to leave it at that; I asked someone once the exact date and they were embarrassed about it, so I dropped it. 

The only people who celebrate their birthdays are old people and rich people and the Royal Family.  Birthday parties for old people are more of a religious event.  It’s very different too because the younger people all go and present their gifts, which are usually money.  Because Cambodia is a country that values old people and people are proud of their age when they get to a certain age, there are sometimes religious ceremonies with monks and lots of people coming to celebrate.  Sometimes they last more than one day; sometimes it’s a small family gathering.  I think that this may also be a city vs. countryside thing.  Those people who live in the countryside tend to hold tighter to Khmer traditions and are resistant to Western influence (whether that is good or bad is another story). 

For the young people, parents are throwing more birthday parties for their children.  It’s very Western: birthday cake, party favors, presents.  They even sing the Happy Birthday song, in English.  It’s pretty funny.  One thing that I don’t understand is how after the child blows out the candles, everyone sprays him or her with silly string and canned snow.  But it gets all over the cake.  It seems to me that parents are keeping track more of the date that their children were born.  But, many teenaged

For the Royal family, the King, the King’s father and the King’s mother’s birthdays are all three day holidays.  A friend once sent me a text that said “Isn’t it funny how most Cambodians don’t celebrate their own birthdays, but we have 9 days vacation to celebrate three people’s birthdays.”

Because I’m not an old person, small child or member of the Royal Family, I assumed that it would be easier to mention my birthday to a few people, but continue life as normal, which is what I did.  I woke up and taught class from 7-9, talked to my parents, read, made lesson plans, ate lunch and then went to the university for my American Culture lesson.  I find that the abundance of American and Khmer holidays present great opportunities for lessons and discussions, I made the lesson about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and the holidays celebrating his life and message.  I told them about his life and his work and we watched a youtube video of his “I Have a Dream” speech.  My birthday coincides with this holiday every seven years and I used to enjoy having the day off of school on my birthday, but also a sense of pride that my birthday was celebrated on the same day as his.  His message, however, meant a little something different this year.  Living in a place that doesn’t have equal rights, talking about this topic with students who are searching for justice and development for their country.  Dr. King’s message was very well-received to my students and I was really touched to be a part of it. 

After the lesson, Raya, who is the leader of the American Corner library where I teach these lesson and is one of my closest friends, tried to pull a fast one and told the students to wait around a moment because they had a surprise for me.  He really underestimated my Khmer skills, but I went along with it when he told me to close my eyes.  For about 30 seconds, there was a lot of rustling around and when I was told that I was allowed to open my eyes, there was a cake on the table with candles and all the students started to sing Happy Birthday.  It was so touching because I didn’t expect it.  The students all wished me good luck for my life and success (which is a Khmer custom that is typical for just about any situation).  We all ate cake and I rode my bike home.  When I got back, my host brother, Huck gave me a gift from him and his girlfriend- a notebook and pen.  Chun Lai and Chun Liap were around and Chun Lai took the bag that Huck used to keep the notebook and pen in and gave me the bag as a gift and told me that I can use it to put the notebook and pen in.  So cute.  After dinner, my host mom gave me a new towel, my host sister gave me a little purse that she made and my host cousin wrote me a note.  It was so cute and heartwarming.  My host mom also wished me good luck, good health and success in my life. 

I was so touched that so many people who mean a lot to me went out of their way to make my birthday special, even though birthdays aren’t a big deal here.  I told myself that I need to remember that feeling for when I am annoyed with my host family, students and friends.  I was talking to my friend Keiko about how nice it was, and we came to the conclusion that our students, families and friends don’t really have too many chances to show how much they appreciate us.  I was making plans to return the favor to them when I leave, but then I remembered that I am a volunteer here.  I enjoy it so much and am learning so much that sometimes I forget the other side of it.  Most volunteers abroad view their service as a service to the country, but Peace Corps views it as a partnership- half is learning and half is teaching.  While many non-Peace Corps volunteers forget the learning part, but Peace Corps volunteers sometimes forget the other side. 

Although I was sort of dreading turning 24, it turned out to be a really great day.  But now it’s back to real life.  School is going to start slowing down once February starts because there will be testing and Chinese New Year.  March is very similar and school will most likely pause until May begins.  Second semester exams are the first week in June, so I have a feeling that I won’t be doing very much teaching after March.  I am trying to stay as busy as possible though, because now that it’s the home stretch, I can’t get homesick or mentally check out until it is time.  In the meantime, we are planning International Women’s Day for March 11^th, in addition to the regular programs.  I found an Ngo that works with a small community of squatter who live in the abandoned train station.  I am looking to start a weekly sports program for a community development project.  We’ll see how that pans out.  Because this is the point where we should start phasing out of our projects, I won’t be starting anything huge or new for two reasons.  One, almost everything takes a few months to get going and two, because I don’t want to start a project that will die immediately after I leave.

Our close of service conference is May 16-18, which is when I will find out when I will be coming home, but I will be home by August 1^st.  That’s good news because I don’t think I would be able to survive dropping into a Chicago fall, let alone winter.  Here are some more pictures that my mom put up on facebook.  Enjoy!

At the party at my school

Ma and Mom (ready for a weddin) 

Maura and I at dinner

In Phnom Penh.