Happy 4th of July!!!

I woke up in the morning feeling kind of home sick since I was in Africa on one of the biggest American holidays. The 4th of July is a big, fun family holiday in my family! We go to the beach, have a BBQ, hang out for the rest of the day, maybe go to a party, then go down town and watch the fireworks. But we all decided we would make the best of the holiday and find something fun to do. So we went to the US Embassy, every piece of material that built the Embassy was from America, every brick, chair, picture, everything. Technically it if you are standing at the Embassy, you are on “American soil”. There were about 100 Americans; you had to show your passport to get in. It was all red white and blue, kids running around, delicious traditional 4th of July food (hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, French fries, pastries, beer, and cokes), and a speech by an American ambassador. We all stood and sang the National Anthem, the Ambassador read the speech Obama gave on the 4th and every one hung out with each other.
After the Embassy we went to go watch a ton of guys we know have their Annual Moto-Polo Tournament. This guy started the game a while ago when he came to Rwanda from America. People pick teams, go out into an open football field, pay some moto drivers to play for a few hours, and let the games begin! I think the pictures speak for them selves…





After watching some crazy moto polo, we left to an evening BBQ at a friends house. THIS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY! Liz made a very patriotic/funny 4th of July play list (it was appropriate for the occasion ☺), we had SUCH good food: Goat shish-cabob’s, fried potato’s, fruit salad, brownies, beer, and any type of pop you could ask for… not just any pop, pop in glass bottles! We spent the rest of day light hanging outside in the yard, eating amazing food, and waiting for the sun to go down. After the sun began to dip behind the hills, the guys who owned to house brought out their projector and set it up against to side of the house while we were setting up blankets. We spent the rest of the evening watching The Sandlot on the projector under an African night sky with only the light of the movie and the blanket of stars illuminating the sky.

Magical |ˈmajikəl| : beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from everyday life.

And that is precisely what it was… a magical evening of pure nostalgia. I may not have been back home, but this was definitely one of the best 4th of July’s I have EVER had.