Goodness gracious, it was absolutely amazing and I will never forget that night.
This unforgettable Saturday started as I woke up to the beautiful Cambodian sunshine gleaming through the window of my Western apartment. I knew it was going to be a great day. Got out of bed, had some breakfast, and did the traditional morning routine of e-mails, Facebook, etc. I then called my co-worker to double check what time she wanted me to head over to her house to get ready. The time came, I grabbed my $10 sparkly silver shoes, $20 glimmering purple dress, hopped on the back of a moto, and headed away from the expat, western world and toward the authentic, Cambodian reality. After 20 mins, I arrived at my coworkers house (which I had never been to before), walked inside, met her mom, sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and her adorable niece. My co-worker had me sit down, and her sister immediately started doing my make-up and hair. What woman doesn't love not having to move a muscle to get ready?!
As she was doing my makeup, I was getting very nervous about committing to going with the "traditional look" because I kept getting little glimpses in the mirror and oh my, I felt a bit like a clown. Bright purple eyeshadow, fake eyelashes, extremely dark, thick eyebrows, and bright pink lipstick. Let's just say it's the OPPOSITE of what I ever do with my makeup, but I really wanted to embrace the tradition, so I just went with it. Then, as I was sitting there getting pampered for all of $4, my co-worker's mom and sisters were adamant about me wearing one of their traditional dresses instead of the one I brought. At this point, I was all for it and said, bring it on! I don't care if I think I look silly, this is the tradition and I want to do it! So, I tried on the sparkly, lace, pink top, and the thick, cloth skirt. The top was just barely too small, but they said, "no problem, we'll take it to the tailor!" Well before I could tell them not to worry about it, the top was gone and at the tailor. Thirty minutes later, the top came back and everything was good to go - my co-worker's hair and makeup was finished, and I was completely sporting the traditional Khmer look. As odd and different as it was, I was so excited and definitely felt beautiful!
After a brief photo session, we were off in a tuk tuk to meet the rest of the co-workers at the office. Along the way, things were quite entertaining. Countless stares, big smiles, and funny comments were being thrown my way. My coworker told me two guys on a moto behind us were arguing about whether or not I was a foreigner in traditional clothes, and then once they came up beside us, shouted in excitement as they realized I really was a foreigner in traditional clothes. I'm glad I made those people's days by allowing them to witness probably one of the strangest sites they rarely get to see. Then we got to the office and met up with the rest of the crowd, who were all equally shocked to see me in traditional clothes, and then we were on our way!
We finally got to the wedding and met up with the house mom who's daughter was the one getting married. Gosh she was so excited to see me - she grabbed my arm and walked me inside with the biggest smile on her face. I walked through the entrance, met the bride and groom, got my lovely gift, and was escorted to our table. After we all got settled in our seats, the shenanigans began! A bottle of brandy magically showed up, our glasses were immediately filled, and the food just kept coming. As we were all gorging on the delicious, traditional Khmer food, my co-workers kept putting their glasses up to cheers. Unlike in the States where you cheers once in a meal, the Cambodians cheers about a million times in a meal, and not only do they cheers and take a sip, they like to shout "tiang ah" as they cheers, which means "everything". If someone says that as they cheers you, you have proceed by drinking everything in your glass. So, as we kept eating, people continued shouting "ah, ah", and glasses kept emptying and then re-filling. After we were all done eating, the dancing started. They played a mix of western, hip hop songs which definitely got me up on the dance floor (bringing about a lot of smiles and laughter as they saw a westerner dancing to hip hop music in traditional Khmer clothes), to traditional Khmer songs that brought us all moving together in a circle, dancing the traditional way with lots of hand movements. I really had no idea what I was doing, so I just started moving my hands the way I thought other people were...I was probably doing everything wrong, but oh well! The night continued with lots of cheers, food, dessert, dancing, and just madness. Then the bride and groom eventually did their last dance where everyone watched, took pictures, threw confetti, etc. which signaled, sadly, the end of the party. After a few hours of drinking, eating, dancing, laughing, and sweating, as it was a million degrees outside, the night finally came to a close.
That was undoubtedly one of my favorite days in Cambodia thus far, and I'm so thankful I had the perfect opportunity to do one of the things on my "Cambodia Bucket List" with a group of people I know, and love spending time with. Much better than having tried to go to a wedding of someone I didn't know with people I didn't know! It was absolutely unforgettable, and has given me another perspective and insight into the lives of Cambodians. It amazes me as I learn more and more about Cambodian life that where I come from is really no different - traditions are very similar, and people are all the same in the ways we all love to have fun, be with others, and dance our butts off! I feel so lucky to be able to witness this firsthand, and I truly believe that if we all got the chance to get to know people from any place unlike what we grew up in, our perspectives about people around the world would be completely different and a lot of the violence and prejudice that exists today would be nonexistent. For now, however, all I can do is learn for myself and share my experiences with all of you, only hoping that you can be even slightly impacted the same way I have been and continue to be every day.
awesome! you look great! what a fun experience. i think it is amazing when a foreigner embraces the local culture instead of trying to change it.
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