Who would have thought that I’d be lost in an array red, white and blue stars dangling from tent tops, see the tip of Uncle Sam’s commanding finger, scarf down a BBQ’d hamburger, watch a hotdot eating contest and most importantly, DRINK FROM A WATER FOUNTAIN!?
All these things are so ‘America’, but I am still so in Cambodia.
Yesterday, the American Embassy hosted U.S. citizens (and then some) to a July 4th carnival. For those 4 hours, I was on American soil among fellow Yankees. Other than the occasional Khmer spoken on stage, I really lost myself in all the Americana. If only there was a baseball game playing on a big screen and the night ended in fire works, the illusion of the States would be close to complete.
It was really fun to celebrate America’s day with an international flair. The faces at the event represented so many countries though their citizenship claimed them American.
Koreans, people from various Africans countries, Chinese, Indians, Filipino, people of mixed backgrounds (J) I soaked in a world of perceived difference, understood similarities.
Happy Birthday America. Another year older, another year wiser let’s hope.
p.s. I feel that I didn’t give those drinking fountains enough appreciation. Literally, I wanted to embrace those drinking fountains of life. You will not see a drinking fountain on the street of Phnom Penh, but at the Embassy, to lap the crystal clean and cold H20 was a little piece of….well…America
Happy 4th! Sounds like Phnom Penh had a fun shindig. Water fountains ARE exciting! I was so hesitant to drink the water out of the tap when I came home, but the experience was freeing. haha. Hope all is well. :)
ReplyDeleteha ha! that's awesome.
ReplyDeleteso cool that the embassy does that! hope you are doing well.
haha I LOVE this! when I read about the drinking fountains I was like uh I didn't think you've been in cambodia that long to be able to drink the water!! yay for the little things :D
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love reading about your adventures. Your post definately made me be grateful about the little things we take for granted in America. Miss ya so so so much!
ReplyDeletehaha enjoyed this post. miss you dude! btw, i work with lots of cambodians at my new job too! maybe you can teach me some khmer when you get back =)
ReplyDelete