Sometimes American embassies host parties for Americans on the 4th of July.  A few years ago our family attended a picnic at the embassy pool for Americans and their families.

This year Ron and I were invited, along with another couple the Cawleys (who play volleyball with a few embassy folks), as representatives of RFIS, to a much more elaborate event at the embassy on July 2.  Rubbing shoulders with diplomats, ambassadors, senators and other important people was quite fun.  The invitation said no cameras, so I’ll just show you pictures of our “souvenirs” from the evening.

This is the first invitation I’ve received that has a bar code on it!  Ron got his own invitation too.  On the way there, we and the Cawleys speculated what the evening would include.  There were way more people there than we’d expected.  Seeing cars drive in sporting flags, we knew a) this party is NOT just for Americans, and B) some pretty important people had been invited.  And the invitation list must have been long – just the line to get in was quite long (for those of us carrying purses that had to pass through security).  The large lawn was crowded with attendees.  Under a large tent servers carried trays of hors d’oeuvres, and bottles of beverages.  In keeping with the theme of celebrating human rights in America, there were large posters around the sides with images of civil rights events from America’s past.

The ambassador gave a lovely speech, a choir from a Cameroonian university sang a few songs, including national anthems of Cameroon and the US.  Then a band played while the crowd chatted and nibbled on yummy treats.  It was a fun evening, and we’re grateful to the ambassador for including us in the festivities.

On Saturday the 4th of July we attended a much more traditional family picnic here at school for those of us in the missionary community who are still in town over the summer.  Hot dogs over an open fire, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, the works!