An Explosive Day

Today was the Fourth of July here in Philadelphia and what a wild one it was.  We went to the Independence Day Parade in downtown, had a barbeque, and went to watch the fireworks down by the river.  It was an amazing experience to be here on the East Coast for the first time to see the Fourth of July in person. I must say that Independence Day here is much different than in California.  In California, almost all fireworks are illegal and here almost all fireworks are legal.  The people seemed to be a bit wilder as well as I’m sure that there was some illegal substances involved.

In the morning time we took the subway downtown to see the parade.  The weather was perfect compared to what we've been dealing with lately.  For the past few days people have been talking about how it will probably rain on the Fourth of July but instead we were treated to a perfect sunny day with manageable heat.  The parade was a lot bigger than the ones in California and had a lot more cultural diversity.  I made sure to salute all of the veterans in the parade and it seemed like they really appreciated it.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my memory cars for the camera in the dorm and was only able to take a few photos.  I made sure that I wouldn't

 make the same mistake for the fireworks.

The fireworks show was one of mixed feelings.  We went two and a half hours early in order to get the prime viewing spot on the field.  So there we waited while the crowds diverged around us.  There was an alarming amount of people using illegal drugs.  Our group made sure to keep our distance from them though.  Here at Summer Discovery you are guilty by association when it comes to drugs and alcohol.  We have a running joke in the program where we basically say that anything that you do is grounds for expulsion from the program due to the immense amount of rules and penalties.

With that said, we ended up waiting on the grass for what seemed like eternity until finally the show started.  After the entire wait the show only lasted for no more than fifteen minutes.  I had expected the fireworks to really blow me away but instead I was only mildly satisfied.  I managed to get some great views of the firework explosions though with the new camera that I’m borrowing though.  The optical zoom on this camera allowed me to see into the inner workings of the explosions, which was a very exciting thing to see.  After it was all said and done, we walked back to our dormitories and now it is time for some much needed sleep for tomorrows classes.