A Very Happy Birthday

I turned 23 years old this past week. Although it was strange not celebrating it with my family or with my close friends, I still had a very nice birthday. I cancelled my Khmer lessons ahead of time so that I could have a nice relaxing morning. I rode my bicycle to the market and bought myself a birthday present—a rechargeable electronic mosquito bat. It’s a fun new toy that allows me to more easily kill the mosquitoes that follow me inside my mosquito net. I also bought myself a piece of “decadent chocolate cake.” It was delicious, although I didn’t have a fork, so I ate it without one.

When Dany arrived home from school at 5:30 PM, she and a neighbor friend took me “for a walk.” Going for a walk in Cambodia probably does not involve much walking. It just means that you are going out to have fun. We went by motorbike (I always wear my helmet, Mom!) to the only shopping mall in Cambodia. I know that those who know about my “love” for shopping will find this amusing. We just walked around for about half an hour and looked at the big screen hi-def televisions. I thought we were going to eat at the mall because I had been promised a hamburger. I could smell the French fries—such a wonderful smell when you haven’t had any burgers or fries for almost three months. However, we left the mall and went to a Cambodian burger joint. My burger was delicious, although it tasted a bit different since it had cucumbers and chili sauce on it. I also had some pineapple ice cream.

Then the girls took me to what I will call a fun park. I would describe it as Cambodia meets a 1993 community carnival. There were several small rides—most were kiddie rides, but it did have a “train.” It was sort of like a very miniature Trailblazer. We went around 5 times. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t thinking about how this ride probably hadn’t been properly inspected and that the ride attendant hadn’t even told us to put down the safety bar. Still, it was fun. When we got off, we threw a bunch of darts at balloons and then left.

We didn’t get back home until about 8:30PM (2 hours past my normal curfew!). I was then presented with a yellow gift box which contained some beautiful Cambodian silk. It was a nice ending to a very nice day.

Also, thank you for all of the cards and emails that I received for my birthday and Valentine’s Day। I had a lot of fun reading them.

I'm pretty sure that my birthday was not the typical birthday celebration in Cambodia. In fact, I know it wasn't. I found out yesterday that Dany's birthday was in January and I didn't even know it. Birthdays apparently aren't a big deal in Cambodia.