A Peace Corps Birthday

            In America, Birthdays are part of our culture. Everyone knows that when a friend or even a complete stranger says “today is my birthday,” the response is a genuine “oh! Happy birthday!” And then, even if there is no party for the birthday person, at the very least, it is the job of friends, co-workers, family, etc to make the birthday girl or boy somehow feel special. Like today is their day. Simple things like giving a birthday card, a birthday hug, or even just slipping in “well, today IS your birthday” for something stupid comes naturally for us.

            In Cambodia, birthdays are not celebrated. Today did not feel more “special” for me than any other day. As a matter of fact, I kept forgetting that it was even my birthday. So I took it upon myself to be my own group of birthday-well-wishers. So here’s a run-down of my birthday, and the conversations I had with myself, basically putting the word “birthday” as an adjective in front of every verb and noun.

            I woke up to a birthday call from my mom. It was too early. She offered to call me back in 20 minutes. I accepted. Then I did my first birthday pee and changed my birthday diva cup (TMI?) Then my mother called again and I had my real birthday phone call.

            After that I decided I deserved some good birthday rice. So I put on my birthday sampot, got on my birthday bike and rode to school early. I went to the shop at school, ordered some birthday pork and rice, and ate by myself. As I was finishing, my friend and co-teacher came to eat also. I told him it was my birthday. He said nothing.

            I went to go teach my first birthday class- 12E. After an hour of that, I taught a birthday lesson to class 12D (note: I didn’t actually teach a lesson about birthdays. Actually the lesson was about a man who went to the moon named Mr. Douglas Armstrong. This is why the country needs new textbooks). Then I went home, took my birthday pants off, and sat in my birthday underwear (but not quite my birthday suit) in front of the birthday fan, while watching birthday comments on my facebook come in one by one.

            I decided that was a sad way to spend my birthday, so instead I went downstairs and read some of my birthday book- Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. My sister called me for my birthday lunch. Even though ant soup was served AGAIN, my sister also cooked birthday French fries and scramble eggs for me to go with my birthday rice. I was happy. During lunch, my sister remembered “oh! Today is your birthday!” So she left the house and came back with four cans of birthday coke, complete with four birthday straws. I drank a birthday coke.

            I laid in a birthday hammock and read more of my birthday book. Then my neighbors kid came over so I gave him a birthday English lesson, and managed to teach him the words: bike, hat, phone, book, bottle, fish, and money. Then the kid got so excited he started to birthday chase me with a chair. I escaped to my birthday lair- my room, where I watched more birthday comments roll in.

            I had a birthday Khmer lesson for one hour. We went over 2 pages in my 1^st grade khmer writing book. Students didn’t show up for my birthday class at 2PM.

            I took a birthday trip to the market to buy some birthday muffins to share with my Honor Society kids. They were out of birthday muffins. Instead I bought birthday candy, and went to Honor Society.

            I gave the students my birthday candy and told them it was for my birthday. Three students wished me a happy birthday. They wished that I would have good health, good luck, and that I would get a boyfriend soon (thanks a lot lol…). They ate almost all my birthday candy and left barely anything for me.

            I biked home again and turned my computer back on to watch more birthday comments come in while eating a birthday hostess cupcake I had been saving for at least a month. Then I was birthday skyped by my aunt and uncle. It was an awesome and not-long-enough birthday skype session leaving me wanting more. But they had to go to work. So I took my birthday bucket bath, changed my birthday diva cup again, and went downstairs for my birthday dinner.

            I had stir fried vegetables and rice, and another one of my birthday cokes for dinner. During dinner, my neighbor came over with 2 more cans of birthday soda (not coke?!?!) to thank me for teaching her son a few words in English. Then I immediately ran to the bathroom for some birthday diarrhea. Finally, I came back into my room and birthday skyped with my mother. Now here I sit, with a birthday headache, writing my birthday blog post with my internet on, hoping against hope that one of my friends will come online and want to birthday skype me. When that fails I’ll probably watch a birthday movie and call it a night.

            Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday! (seriously. This part is not sarcastic like the rest of my post). Thanks for all your well wishes, your jokes, and your sentimental nonsense.

            Lookin’ forward to April 25^th 2013.

Oh, I feel like I should also say that on Friday I'm going to Phnom Penh, where I will watch the Childrens Choir of the Paris National Opera put on Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges. Then the next day I'm going out to the beach area to meet some friends, eat birthday bacon, swim in a birthday pool, and eat birthday italian food. It's not that I'm not doing cool things for my birthday. It's just that I miss my family and friends.

I'd give anything to have a picnic under my giant cherry blossom tree declared in the name of Professor Gwendolyn Carol and her Keyboard Harmony class. And then go home to a home-cooked chicken parmesan feast with all my family, complete with one of my dad's famous birthday cakes and a chorus of Happy Birthday, sung in our infamous Broberg Family Key- the key of AWESOME.

Enjoy some pictures.

A mouse under my desk

He is not scared of my at all. He's about a foot away from my feet, and it is bright as day in my bedroom.

My sister and I dressed for a wedding

My sister and I at a different wedding

Wedding fish. 

My oldest sister and her adorable spoiled-to-no-end grandson