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Today has been a very jam packed day, let me tell you. In case you didn't know, today is my 25th birthday – thank you to everyone who sent me an email commemorating this occasion. I haven't received so much email at one time since my training days – it was truly overwhelming. They say you can tell the measure of a man by the people he/she has touched, it's good to know that even thousands of miles away I've touched quite a few peoples lives…you miss me, you really miss me! *tear* Now, after receiving the busload of emails, I met up with another couple that I met through my blog (this time through their son, Cecil, who was/is a prospective Peace Corps Volunteer), Dennis and Moira Wilson. Apparently they had come up to the school on Friday, but it was our sports day and classes were cancelled so they came back today to talk to me. They're from Clarksville, TN (if they were from either Murfreesboro or Morristown, I would have been totally freaked out) which is pretty close to my city of Nashville. It was so much fun talking to finally talk to someone who was literally from the same state as I was. They're here doing some mission work with churches on Savaii and Upolu, so hopefully I'll meet up again with them sometime this week. Oh, just so you know the first thing to say happy birthday to me, that was currently in the country of Samoa, was my watch – which my dad sent me, so congrats Dad!
After school, I rushed down to the Peace Corps Office because Mary told me that the PC staff was throwing a little birthday party for the both of us (reminder: Mary's birthday is the same day as mine) but when I arrived I was totally taken back. There was cake, decorations, party hats, balloons and all the PC staff and some of the volunteers were there – I was just amazed. Mary and Denis bought the cake and it had both of our Samoan names on it (Matusi and Malia) so that was extremely sweet. As a birthday gift (as if she and Denis haven't been overly generous enough to me) she gave me a wind up radio that would be extremely useful here during power outages or potential tsunami's *knock on wood* and it will be a great gift to hand down to other peace corps after I'm done with my service. Kim (our Country Director) gave Mary and I gifts as well – a Samoan CD which was produced by the choir of Faleseela (the training village for Group 72) and was given an assist by various Peace Corps Staff (Fono) and Volunteers (Robyn – 74/ Theresa – 72). So I got both an American gift and a Samoan gift, how could it get any better? Also, Mary and Denis got another great gift from the Peace Corps – a free trip to the airport (which would have cost between $15 - $37 tala depending on whether you take a shuttle or taxi). See, once you're part of the Peace Corps family they take good care of you and make sure you have a great, relaxing time. It's a good international family to have!
Once I said my goodbyes to Denis and Mary, I went out to dinner with some of the other Peace Corps volunteers and there was a good representation there. There were folks from Groups 72 (MacBarr – who was leaving the same night), 73 (Selima), 74 (Nick, Maka,Robyn) and 75 (Sara, Ryan, Julya, Holly, Brian, John H). By my standards that was a heck of a lot of people, but it was also a good quality of people to hang out with on my 25th birthday. We ate at a Chinese restaurant called Chopstix which is pretty close to the Peace Corps office and is relatively cheap when you have a whole bunch of people to feed. So it was a good time of just hanging out (especially for us Group 75ers) and laughing and having a good time with good folks. Made me realize how lucky I am to have made such good friends here in such a short period of time.
After dinner, we said our final goodbyes to MacBarr and then Sarah and I walked back to her house, just chatting about various stuff along the way. Apparently, today and yesterday was meant for long walks and just chatting about various things that are frustrating us during our service and also sharing the good stories as well. So even though I sometimes spend a lot of time around Sarah, this was a time to just do one on one talking and it was really nice. Once I made sure she was safely home, I got a taxi home and now I'm writing this blog. So – in all, it was a very good and uplifting birthday.
As my mom put it so beautifully in an email to me today, "On this day 25 years ago on a hot Friday between 6pm and 7:30pm I came into this world" and it's all been building towards this day – celebrating a quarter century of excellence! Something tells me that 25 years ago, if you had told my mom or dad – who were both living in Chicago- that their only son would not only graduate college, but also have a masters degree, would be healthy and turn out pretty well and oh yeah, he's going to travel the world they would have surely been like 'I'm just glad he's going to be alive at 25!' I'm in my mid-twenties now (thanks Jonas) and I can't believe the awesome support I've had in my life. Not only here in Samoa but also back home with my friends and family. I have been truly blessed these past 25 years and because of everyone that has ever supported me, I am able to write on this blog from a tropical island in the Pacific islands. Not to many kids from the South side of Chicago can say that. So thank you to all my friends and family for sticking with me while I put my life on hold and experience this one in a lifetime opportunity in Samoa and thank you to all the readers who I have met (Mary, Denis, Timothy, Dennis/Moira Wilson) and all those that are reading but I have not met – you are truly making me appreciate how unique this opportunity is. I traveled the world to meet different people and different cultures and I'm definitely living that in ways I never imagined. So here's to another successful 25 years! Alofa lava!
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Executive Producer: Marques Stewart
Created by: Janice Bradford & Sebastian Stewart
This has been a Peace Corps Group 75/WDE Production
1 comment:
The computers at Chanel are still doing well - while not top of the line, they're very durable and that's what counts.
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