The 4th of July, Just Like a Circus

On July 4th, Phnom Penh pretty much went about its daily business. I still worked half a day on a Saturday as usual, the

traffic was still crazy, Cambodian kids went to school, but for about 1,300 people, half of which were American, the 4th was a day when you could get corn dogs at the American Embassy.  

Throughout the world, wherever there is an

American Embassy, the Embassy throws two types of parties, a formal and an informal one. The formal one is for diplomats, dignitaries and the like, while the informal one is for you, me and if I had them, my Cambodian spouse and child. Not that I work for the American Embassy, but from what I gathered, preparing for a 4th of July event abroad is pretty much a circus, which as it turned out, was also the theme for this year's Cambodian 4th.  

For some reason or another, during my time here I have also signed up to volunteer as the "Media Contact" for the non-profit, Democrats Abroad 

(all over the world as well) which comes with the job of writing press releases and volunteering at events like the 4th of July. So this July, I found myself helping set up a bamboo structure and booth for DemsAbroad at the American Embassy, next to the military vets and Swensen's Ice Cream.   

The gardens of the embassy were transformed to allow a gigantic white, star-spangled tent to shelter the party-goers from the rain (and it did rain at one point).  A good punk-looking, Khmer band rocked out to American pop-songs (including the Brittney Spears Circus song) as acrobats and clowns made their way through the crowd, performing at will to the delight of the strange-crowd of American citizens.  NGO workers, English teachers, Marines, Embassy people, a white monk in costume,  and your typical over-weight white male in a Hawaiian flower button-down, paraded around

the grounds, licking strawberry, chocolate or vanilla ice cream cones, chowing down on huge cheeseburgers, taking part in hot-dog eating contests, and drinking beer.  

You could also get fake-twizzlers at the USA Donuts booth.  Sadly, there were no fireworks this year.  Tim blamed it on the economy. I spent most of my time trying to sell Obama Cambodia tee-shirts (which are actually

pretty cool), trying to get people to come to a July 16th DemsAbroad meeting on health care policy reform for Americans living overseas, and sneaking away to hang out with friends. 

It was a good 4th, though family picnics and small-town parades and fireworks were greatly missed.