4th of July in Jerusalem!

The fourth of July was a weird holiday to be away for. At first, I was a little homesick about missing the Eaglewood fireworks and traditions with family and wonderful neighbors. All the students dressed up in the most patriotic things we could find and decided to make a good day out of it! Unfortunately, we had CLASS in the morning. Who does that? They don’t give us Israeli or American holidays off? I’m gonna take my concerns to the boss. After we survived class we went to Hezekiah’s tunnel! We went there for a field trip recently, but this time we decided to do it with no lights! It was super scary at first, but really fun! We sang God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, and I’m Proud to be an AMERICAN while we walked through the pitch black tunnel. I couldn't even see Analise in front of me, but we talked and sang and it was nice to know she was there! (I could probably use that in a church talk). It was such a blast. 

For dinner, we had an American BBQ! It was so good. Hamburgers, corn on the cob, ice cream, apple pie…so good. We listened to an American playlist while we ate outside. After dinner, we had a center activity where we played games in our family night groups while we listened to more American music. Sister Ludlow made a delicious cake and we sang the Star Spangled Banner and lit sparklers for candles. I’ve honestly never been more proud to be an American. Being away from that lovely country reminds me why I love it so much. I even got a little emotional and nostalgic thinking about how much I really love America. As sad as it will be to leave Jerusalem, I’ll probably recite the pledge and sing some American songs once I land in NYC (in just about one month L). Naturally, every party at the JC turns into a dance party. So we danced the night away and then went outside to catch some fireworks! (fireworks happen in the city just about every night, but we were grateful to see them on the 4^th!).

It was sad missing traditions and just being in America on the fourth. But… I think we found a pretty memorable way to celebrate here in Jerusalem.