Fun on the Fourth

Well, I'm just now blogging about the 4th of July...but better late than never, right?

There's only been one other time when I've been out of the country on Independence Day. When you're not bombarded with tons of fireworks and Lee Greenwood singing "Proud to Be an American", you really have to make an effort to appreciate the freedoms that we are privileged to have. Thanks to Elizabeth and Jen, we had a 4th of July celebration to rival all others.

All totaled, there were about seventeen volunteers at the albergue that day. Joel and Doug grilled hamburgers and barbecue chicken for us. (Of course, first we had to buy the grill first and then found that Peruvian charcoal is quite different from briquets we have in the states.)

Elizabeth made potato salad and Jen made fresh guacamole as well as "grilled asparagus". Everything was so delicious...even though the hamburger patties had a little "different" texture to them.

A 4th of July celebration just wouldn't be complete without sparklers.

We learned the coolest trick~if you put your camera on the "fireworks" setting and then make letters backwards with sparklers, it will spell out a word! Joel, HanK and I attempted to write USA. (It looks a little more like JSA, but you get the point.)

The long-term volunteers spelled out PERU. By that time, we had the technique perfected, so it turned out really cool-looking.

So even though we were in a foreign country, it was such a special celebration honoring the freedoms that are ours not only with fellow Americans, but precious fellow Believers. We are so very blessed.