27 is going to be a good year.

 

for my twenty seventh birthday, i had to give in to this inevitable fact about me:

i am happiest when i am busiest.

i know this because, for my twenty seventh birthday, i had the best day ever. 

a top five day in cambodia, and a top twenty day in my life, for sure.

and on that day, i taught eight full hours of English and teaching methodology.

on that day, i spent my short but sweet two hour break planning my final, eighth, hour of class and got so busy that i forgot to eat.

i ate a smooshed quaker oats chewy granola bar for lunch on my birthday.

and it was awesome.

on my birthday, my khmer tutor and friend worked very hard to surprise me with a delicious dinner for my birthday.

i, unknowing of this fact, happily agreed to dinner with my host family.

so, on my twenty seventh birthday, i happily ate two meals worth of food during dinner, surrounded by people who've adopted me into their life.

the kids played all around, and all over, us before, during, and after dinner.

we laughed so hard that we began to cry with our host family.

and i actually nearly did cry when a series of events occurred:

1. three girls in chris' and my free english class saw that it was my birthday on facebook, and shocked me during class with gifts.

2. chris procured a brownie cake, complete with ganache and buttercream frosting.

3. our host family sang happy birthday to me, while i clapped and sat in wonder at my life

4. my host niece and nephew helped me blow out my candles

5. i spent the entire dinner understanding nearly everything said, and topher and i realized that no translation was necessary

and finally

6. my host sister presented me with a gift of beautiful, expensive material to make a sampot (skirt).

and to top it off, i got to surprise skype with chris' wonderful family, and then received an unexpected gift from my parents via email.

if the day of my birth is any indication,

twenty seven promises to be a pretty amazing age.

i'm in awe of my luck and happiness.