Turning 24 in Peace Corps, Extra Crispy

Well, though it is now March 11th, the week of February the 26th held some big events in my life here. Yes.

First off, March 1st marked the first birthday ever that I spent in a place other than Baltimore or St. Mary's County. I turned 24. Yay, I'm old as hell. As PCTs, we have been trying to compile a list with everyone's birthday, so mine luckily fell at a great time for people to have time for well wishes. I got text messages from some of the staff/Cambodian friends, and my friend Michael even gave me a call to say happy birthday and hash out some details to come visit their village on the coming day off. Also my host family learned that my birthday was coming, and got very excited. However, while Cambodians know their birthdays, they do not celebrate them... primarily for money reasons. So while I tried to explain to them that I didn't typically spend a lot in celebrating ("I go out with friends, eat, drink, laugh, etc") I didn't really know what to expect.

However, it did not disappoint. At medical training in the morning, our MO Linda had... yes, that's right.... a jar of chunky peanut butter and a jar of creamy with baguettes. My PCT friend Natalie had texted her about my addiction, and they sung me happy birthday while i fought back tears of joy. Then later that afternoon, Sophea and Sokha (the two LCFs working with our village) had a cake for me! It had my name, two big candles shaped like a 2 and 4, and even a tiny pig on it (Chinese new year is the year of the pig, in case that made no sense). They and the 6 fellow PCTs in my village sang to me, and then shot me with the Chinese equivalent of silly string which was sort of projectile soap... it fell on the cake but no one cared since we had ate far worse, and it was awesome. However, it did stir up some drama since my host sister and a neighbor had promised to sing Khmer music, and then thought they hadn't been invited to my birthday, so gave me a cold shoulder for a few days. This was just explained to me yesterday because, of course, I am pretty oblivious and also can't speak enough Khmer to understand passive-aggression. The night ended with about 20 people under my porch singing various songs, as we traded Khmer and English music. I sing a lot here (they really love Jingle Bells), and "If Ever I Would Leave You, It Wouldn't Be In Springtime" or whatever cracked them up when I used my falsetto. Also I found out there is a Khmer version of "Play that funky music white boy". Truly a day to remember.

And it even continued two days later! I went to Tbong Kmong (the largest of the three training areas, which I think I spelled terribly) to visit my friends and had a great day off. We ate at Fel's host family's restaurant, and then biked to the POOL. Holy hell, this is why I called them Peace Corps Light, but it was a damn lovely afternoon of sitting around feeling like I was at an Asian version of Swan Lake (a reference lost on many people that may read this...). It was a huge village, but Michael lent me her bike when she went to meet with her co-teacher, and when she and Conor arrived at the pool, they had a present for me... a cake from Phnom Penh! It had gotten a bit jostled in Conor's bike basket, but was delicious and even said "Happy Birthday Doyle Colin!" in awesomely-Khmer fashion. Kudos to Michael and Samart the LCF for having such an awesome surprise for me! I am here with such a great group of people, and besides the three inch long aquatic beetle that tried to eat my face in the pool, it was the perfect end to my birthday celebration. I even got to pedal Derek's bike back to the market with him sitting on the back (a common source of dual-transport here)... as if people didn't laugh at us enough.

So yay, that was that. And yet probably even MORE exciting this week was that we had our permanent site announcement. These are the districts and provinces that, without any unforeseen tragedy, we will be living and working for the next 2 years. Yikes. The thirty of us are spread across 7 provinces (i think these are the correct spellings): Kampong Cham (where we have been training), Takeo, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Siem Riep (where Ankor Wat is), Kampot, and Battambang. They announced the placements by province, and my name was called for Team Svay Rieng Province, and I will be in the District of Romeas Hek (pronounced "Rome-ee Hike"). This is the site furthest to the South East of Cambodia and is called a "parrots beak" for the way it juts into Vietnam.

With me I was astounded and excited to hear the names of three of my favorite people in the group: Nora, Molli, and Michael. Molli and Michael I have mentioned before, two girls (from Iowa and Alaska respectively) that I clicked with well in San Francisco, with Michael organizing my birthday visit to Tbong Kmong. And Nora is an outgoing girl with possibly the loudest laugh in the country that has been in my training District with me. Three awesome people with great spirits, senses of humor, and different personalities. Any question of being able to seek support in each other is not a worry anymore.

It also turns out that Yin Dara, the Language and Culture Coordinator (head LCF), was born in Romeas Hek, knew my host families house, and just had glowing things to say about it and the people, saying that many of his family members still lived there and he may come down for holidays. Also the MO Linda said that it was one of the most beautiful villages, one of her favorite host families, and that the local doctor was so good that she would trust my health to him in a heart beat. A rousing review from two of the people I respect the most here. Then I was told by Vanesa Hughes (our technical training officer) and Cheryl Turner (our Assistant Country Director, basically, though I forget her exact title) that it was "probably the most remote site out of the thirty "and that they gave it to me because they "thought I could handle it".

We are leaving (well, left and have since returned, but I'm a bit behind...) on Monday March 5th. Remote, beautiful, challenging, and full of awesome people? Haha, bring it on Peace Corps.