I was thinking back over the last few years of my 4th of July experiences and have realized that they have been anything but typical. There have been no fireworks or parades and sometimes not even Americans! These are my 4th of July experiences over the last 4 years:
2004: Uzbekistan. I watched a baseball game between the Uzbek national team and some of the American military. Needless to say, the Americans schooled the Uzbeks (9-1).
2005: In a car between Michigan and Indiana. I was driving back from visiting some friends in Grand Rapids and made it to my mom's house in Indiana just in time to see a few fireworks on the horizon. Not very festive at all.
2006: The U.S. military base in Northern Afghanistan. The Afghans almost didn't let me past the checkpoint because they thought I was the translator for the other 4 Americans with me. We did have hamburgers and potato salad and watched CNN. This was probably the most patriotic 4th of July I've ever had as I spent it with people who were making a living working for our country.
2007: In Thailand having surgery. Yep, I was having a colonoscopy this 4th of July. (by the way, I'm parasite free and they found only a mild hiatal hernia and a small kidney stone. Yippee!). The rest of the afternoon I slept off the anesthetics and then boarded a plane to start my 2 day journey back to America. I didn't even see one American that day!
So, where in the world will I be next year? Only time will tell!
No comments:
Post a Comment