MJ Live

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Family Matters (Written 7/24/07)

Well that special and most wonderful day of the year has finally arrived again…no, not the start of the NFL season (the start of training camp though is exciting) but it's once again time for my birthday. So today was my last birthday in Samoa – next year, we're throwing a good ole American bash!

So the day started off the best way it could – with me not having to teach a single class today. Chanel's mid-term exams started today and all I had to do was supervise a class for 3 hours (that's right, our year 12 and 13 students have to sit 3 hour exams! I didn't take my first 3 hour exam until university). So once that was out of the way, I had the rest of the day free – so I continued working on fixing up our 4th computer lab. At around 2:30pm, Viv and Tina picked me up to take me to the tutoring session for my Faatuatua kids – little did I know that my true birthday surprises were just around the corner.

Now if you know me – while I'm a little brash sometimes, I really don't like making a big deal about myself. It's just not my style – which is why no one at school knew that it was my birthday today. So I didn't get my first official 'verbal' Happy birthday until I got into the car with Viv/Tina and the kids. On the drive to Viv's house, we stopped by the Peace Corps office to see if there was a package waiting for me (when I checked, they hadn't gone to check the mail yet). The weird thing was when I went into the administration office, everyone told me 'Happy Birthday'. I was like 'What? How did you know it was my birthday?' Teuila (our medical officer) was the first one to say it to me – that would be important later on as to how she knew it was my bday. So I couldn't help but smile because this was the second year in a row that Peace Corps actually recognized my birthday….like I was all special or something!

So I went and did my tutoring session with Jewell and Uati. As we were finishing up, I got a call from one of my friends in the states who was just calling to wish me a happy birthday – this day was evolving into a bigger deal then I could ever imagine. Uati was happy that I got the call because that meant I cut my tutoring session short, but he'll make up for it tomorrow…no worries. So I talked to my friend for over an hour and couldn't help but smile because it was just so cool to actually get a call from someone from home on my birthday. And the coup de jour was when I got a text from my mom wishing me a happy birthday (before now, I could text her but she couldn't text me back). So all in all, at that point the day could have been over and I would have been an extremely happy birthday boy! Heck, even Jorim gave me a birthday 'present' which was just a birthday mask that read 'Happpy Birthday, Marques'. So cute!

So every Tuesday I have dinner at the Phillips (Paul/Viv's) house as part of my tutoring payment. So when Viv was putting a lot of effort into the meal, I thought she was just going to be making something super special for dinner. Then around 6pm, I turned around and saw Sara and Robyn walk by – which caught me by surprise because I didn't tell either one of them about this dinner tonight. So that was my first clue that something was up for tonight – that the dinner might be a little special. But it wasn't until Teuila/Pati and their kids showed up that I was like 'This is a surprise birthday party!' and it was truly a surprise because I had no idea Viv was going to go through so much effort. So in all I had a combination of the 3 family's that have had a big impact on my time in Samoa: The Phillips (Paul, Viv, Jewell, Matilda, Grace and Jorim)/Richie and Tina, The Pati's (Pati, Teuila, Tiffany, Rachel and Elisha) and the Peace Corps (Sara and Robin) – that was just a cool gathering that I just didn't expect to happen. All of a sudden there was a ton of food on the table and I could see that a lot of effort went into this dinner – for little ole' me. If I could I think I would have been blushing from all the attention. There was even a birthday cake and they sang 3 versions of 'Happy Birthday' – sooo much attention.

And when I sat down to have dinner, it just kind of hit me that these folks represented my family in Samoa. I just loved being around these folks and talking and just fellowshipping with them. I was glad that Viv went through the effort because heaven knows I wouldn't have done it for myself – but when we were all there together I was like 'I like this family!' and it just kind of reminded me how much better my experience here has improved since I've become involved with these folks. As Viv/Paul are fond of saying 'You're no longer a guest, you're part of the family' and tonight was one of those nights where it really felt like that. It's funny how I told Viv about my birthday last Tuesday and this Tuesday she was able to pull together a feast – impressive really. And I'll always remember this as being my first big surprise party. All in all, it has been a great day…in case you're wondering, I'm now 26. Funny thing is, last year had you told me that I would be spending my 26th birthday with a Samoan family…I probably would have said 'Yeah right', but my how things change (and people grow closer) in only a year. Lovin' 26 already!!! L8r.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am really glad that you had a truly wonderful day. Love Mom