Independence Day
Like Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter, I have never in my life done anything different for this holiday – that is, not until this year. And I was not disappointed. For this year, on my nation’s birthday, I had the honor of singing the National Anthem (of Cambodia) for two very different parties at the Embassy – which means that I was invited to and enjoyed two different parties at the Embassy.
But I will start at the beginning. On the 2nd of July, my buddy Deidre and I too
k the very long bus ride down to Phnom Penh from our provincial town. Neither of us are in the provincial town, and with the rainy season destroying the road, it takes me about 1½ hours to get from my home to Sway. Deidre, with her new road, only needs about 20 minutes to make the same trip. But it takes both of us about 7 hours to get down to the Penh.
Almost as soon as we got in, we went to the Peace Corps office and jetted on to the Embassy for a rehearsal – this was more fun than it sounds, because the five of us (myself, Deidre, Mat
t from Kampot, Lydia from K. Cham, and Steph from Siem Reap) we so excited to be on American soil, especially when it was decorated so well. The whole courtyard was a splash of red white and blue and the stage had carpet on it. We went through the program with the embassy staff and ended up at our homestay…
Now when I first heard the word ‘homestay,’ I began to think of the houses that the Peace Corps staff have – Cheryl, my boss, has a gorgeous home, with all the amenities of home that I am no longer accustomed to (See: oven, kitchen utensils, AC, TV in English, carpet, furniture, etc, etc, etc). This blew away all of my expectations. Our homestay happened to be with a person who stays in a hotel – the Himawari hotel – arguably one of the ni
cest hotels in the country (See: pool, sauna, fitness room, buffet breakfast with bacon, eggs, toast, OJ, oatmeal, and then some, kimono robes, Bath and Body Works toiletries, fluffy towels… Plus our host had Wii and excellent cooking skills). We were in heaven, and that is not an understatement. This is one of the nicest places I have ever been in (ever!), let alone coming from a simple life in the Cambodian countryside.
I could go on and on, I’m sure, but I’ll progress to the party. After getting our hair done at a salon, the four gals got dressed, picked up our solitary male, and headed over to the Embassy in our fancy white Khmer shirts and traditional skirts. It was even more decorated than the day before, with tables set up throughout the area, a Statue of Liberty ice sculpture, and food stations everywhere. I should elaborate, perhaps – Free food stations. But we’ll get to that later.
We sang our song, which was beautiful, watched the marines, took some photos, met the Ambassador and chatted, met some other people from the Embassy, talked with our host (Melissa, FBI), and generally enjoyed the ambiance. We dug in to the food – a buffet with all kinds of foods – and stuffed ourselves full. We also enjoyed the free Swenson’s ice cream and the (prepare yourself) chocolate fountain with the strawberries, muffin bits, kiwi and grapes that accompanied it. Oh – did I mention that there was free liquor? Glass by glass, the white wine disappeared, usually to th
e group that surrounded the chocolate fountain.
We ended the night by heading over to the nicest bar in the city (in the Raffles hotel), where a kind RPCV and his friend, in town write a book about Cambodia, bought us all drinks and told us stories of the old days…
The Next Day
Breakfast – I have to reminisce – fluffy scrambled eggs with onions and peppers, cocoa peppers, apple juice, mocha, bacon, cheese, toast and jam, mmmmmm…..
After some chill time in the hotel, we went on to our second engagement. We were looking sharp in new white shirts and our jeans, and went in like rock stars through the back entrance of the building. We sang our song as the Marines presented the colors again, and then we enjoyed the party.
I’ll set the scene for this one: food stands throughout the yard, with barbeque, Mexican, and any number of other semi-American things, Coke included, for sale; hot dog eating contest (which was won by one of the colo
r-presenting marines as his leader cheered him on); a band with a gal in heels and a corset top and two boys singing American tunes (one of the boys kept winking at us the night before, and was very nice); children with blond hair (you may need to visit before you understand the rarity of said sight); American flag sheet cake; circus people (jugglers, tumblers, clowns, and the like… from the NGO circus in Battambang); English-speakers as far as the eye could see; Barack Obama mask; and some pretty cool Peace Corps Volunteers.
It was perfect. There was no parade, no pancakes, none of my family, but this was the best place to be besides back at home.
And then…
Upon returning to the hotel, I joined Deidre and some of the other girls for a night out on the town in celebration of Deidre’s birthday! We ate tapas at a place near the office, went out to a loungey bar, and went dancing, and life was good once again…
Like Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter, I have never in my life done anything different for this holiday – that is, not until this year. And I was not disappointed. For this year, on my nation’s birthday, I had the honor of singing the National Anthem (of Cambodia) for two very different parties at the Embassy – which means that I was invited to and enjoyed two different parties at the Embassy.
But I will start at the beginning. On the 2nd of July, my buddy Deidre and I too
k the very long bus ride down to Phnom Penh from our provincial town. Neither of us are in the provincial town, and with the rainy season destroying the road, it takes me about 1½ hours to get from my home to Sway. Deidre, with her new road, only needs about 20 minutes to make the same trip. But it takes both of us about 7 hours to get down to the Penh.Almost as soon as we got in, we went to the Peace Corps office and jetted on to the Embassy for a rehearsal – this was more fun than it sounds, because the five of us (myself, Deidre, Mat
t from Kampot, Lydia from K. Cham, and Steph from Siem Reap) we so excited to be on American soil, especially when it was decorated so well. The whole courtyard was a splash of red white and blue and the stage had carpet on it. We went through the program with the embassy staff and ended up at our homestay…Now when I first heard the word ‘homestay,’ I began to think of the houses that the Peace Corps staff have – Cheryl, my boss, has a gorgeous home, with all the amenities of home that I am no longer accustomed to (See: oven, kitchen utensils, AC, TV in English, carpet, furniture, etc, etc, etc). This blew away all of my expectations. Our homestay happened to be with a person who stays in a hotel – the Himawari hotel – arguably one of the ni
cest hotels in the country (See: pool, sauna, fitness room, buffet breakfast with bacon, eggs, toast, OJ, oatmeal, and then some, kimono robes, Bath and Body Works toiletries, fluffy towels… Plus our host had Wii and excellent cooking skills). We were in heaven, and that is not an understatement. This is one of the nicest places I have ever been in (ever!), let alone coming from a simple life in the Cambodian countryside. I could go on and on, I’m sure, but I’ll progress to the party. After getting our hair done at a salon, the four gals got dressed, picked up our solitary male, and headed over to the Embassy in our fancy white Khmer shirts and traditional skirts. It was even more decorated than the day before, with tables set up throughout the area, a Statue of Liberty ice sculpture, and food stations everywhere. I should elaborate, perhaps – Free food stations. But we’ll get to that later.
We sang our song, which was beautiful, watched the marines, took some photos, met the Ambassador and chatted, met some other people from the Embassy, talked with our host (Melissa, FBI), and generally enjoyed the ambiance. We dug in to the food – a buffet with all kinds of foods – and stuffed ourselves full. We also enjoyed the free Swenson’s ice cream and the (prepare yourself) chocolate fountain with the strawberries, muffin bits, kiwi and grapes that accompanied it. Oh – did I mention that there was free liquor? Glass by glass, the white wine disappeared, usually to th
e group that surrounded the chocolate fountain.We ended the night by heading over to the nicest bar in the city (in the Raffles hotel), where a kind RPCV and his friend, in town write a book about Cambodia, bought us all drinks and told us stories of the old days…
The Next Day
Breakfast – I have to reminisce – fluffy scrambled eggs with onions and peppers, cocoa peppers, apple juice, mocha, bacon, cheese, toast and jam, mmmmmm…..
After some chill time in the hotel, we went on to our second engagement. We were looking sharp in new white shirts and our jeans, and went in like rock stars through the back entrance of the building. We sang our song as the Marines presented the colors again, and then we enjoyed the party.
I’ll set the scene for this one: food stands throughout the yard, with barbeque, Mexican, and any number of other semi-American things, Coke included, for sale; hot dog eating contest (which was won by one of the colo
r-presenting marines as his leader cheered him on); a band with a gal in heels and a corset top and two boys singing American tunes (one of the boys kept winking at us the night before, and was very nice); children with blond hair (you may need to visit before you understand the rarity of said sight); American flag sheet cake; circus people (jugglers, tumblers, clowns, and the like… from the NGO circus in Battambang); English-speakers as far as the eye could see; Barack Obama mask; and some pretty cool Peace Corps Volunteers.
It was perfect. There was no parade, no pancakes, none of my family, but this was the best place to be besides back at home.
And then…
Upon returning to the hotel, I joined Deidre and some of the other girls for a night out on the town in celebration of Deidre’s birthday! We ate tapas at a place near the office, went out to a loungey bar, and went dancing, and life was good once again…
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