Celebrating the 4th of July Abroad

In the US, the 4th of July is the official start to summer, and a great day for watching parades and fireworks, hosting a BBQ, going swimming and/or camping, and enjoying a day filled with the community spirit.  Here in Mexico, the 4th of July was any other Tuesday except for the fact that I had two community presentations on the calendar - my first Spanish presentations in my community.  On the walk to the office, a bird flew directly in front of my face to eat a bug on the wall, and I was called "señorita" for the first time in Mexico (not by the bird).  I had to get to the office by 9:00 AM - in other words, super early - for a team breakfast meeting, where we gorged ourselves on five different varieties of tacos while talking shop.   

 I did have a proper 4th of July meal with burgers, potato salad and chips (just a little delayed). 

This container was full of tacos when the day started. Maybe not a "proper" 4th of July breakfast but super tasty. 

No fireworks in Mexico, but the sky put on quite a show the evening of the 4th. 

I spent the day traveling from one place to another trying to find participants for my presentations, while dodging giant water puddles and minor mudslides from the morning rains.  That evening my brother asked if I wanted to FaceTime to watch some fireworks with his family.  I love a professional fireworks show, and this year I got to experience my nieces jumping up and down and yelling in excitement with each burst of color, which was awesome!  It's hard to explain how special something like a FaceTime fireworks date is when you're a volunteer, but my heart was full of gratitude. 

One of your goals as a Peace Corps volunteer is to share information about the US culture with your host country, so I thought, hey, let's celebrate the 4th of July!  It was too busy in the office to celebrate on the day itself, so I invited my coworkers and English class students to a barbecue on the 7th of July instead.  The only caveat was that I needed someone else to provide a grill and charcoal, and to probably cook the meat, because - well, I'm not skilled in the art of BBQ.  However, I knew what a typical menu should include, and I figured it was ok to celebrate a few days late so long as we had cheeseburgers with veggies, potato salad, chips and a bucket of beverages.  I shared information about what a typical 4th of July celebration entails in the US and we spent a few hours closing out the week with conversation and laughter. 

 Alma teaching me her hamburger recipe. 

There's always one extra step here in Mexico - disinfecting the fruits and vegetables. 

Making hamburgers in the office. 

Israel getting the fire started.  

Using the office fan to try and light those coals. 

We had fancy cheeseburgers with Havarti cheese that Alma purchased in the city! 

Fresh tomatoes, lettuce and the works. 

Patio party. 

Tello and Sonia. 

Enjoying hamburgers with Rosy, an English class student. 

I also developed a special lesson plan on the 4th of July in the US for my English class students.  It was fun discussing the similarities and differences between Independence Day celebrations in the US and Mexico, and we identified way more similarities than differences.  There was also a lot of interest in this mysterious dish called "potato salad" so we read through the recipe and I gave them a copy to take home. 

I must say that this was a 4th of July that I will always remember for one simple reason: I finally learned how to make hamburgers!  My coworker Alma's recipe included a mix of ground pork and beef, shredded carrots and zucchini, eggs, salt and pepper, and breadcrumbs.  Prior to this 4th of July, I had never made potato salad or hamburgers myself, and I could not get over the irony of learning the hamburger trade from a woman in Mexico while celebrating a US holiday.  I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a top notch cultural exchange!