Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!!!

The parade

I went to the Fourth of July parade today with a group of students for Summer Discovery. It was a nice parade, and I especially liked the marching bands. There were floats for Miss America, Miss New Jersey, Miss Delaware, and Miss Pennsylvania. There were also other floats and performances celebrating different cultures that have participated heavily in the U.S. and its culture. There were celebrations of Tibetans, Filipinos, African Americans, and more.

After the parade we were free to do what we wanted, so I read the readings for my class. Then it was time for dinner, which was a barbecue. The food was good and it was fun to sit and eat with everyone outside. I met more new people and held conversations with students from my social justice class. Even though we were not in class, we couldn't help but talk about what we are all interested in, which is the social injustices in the world. 

The fireworks

Afterwards, I hung out with the new people I met in the Quad, where we talked and played football. Then we all went to the fireworks, which was located near Drexel University. We all got there fairly early and most of us got food. I got mango flavored Italian Ice, and I made more friends by talking about how great the mango flavored Italian Ice was. As I waited for the fireworks to start, I hung out with one of my Turkish friends who introduced me to two more of her friends who are from the same area as her. They were talking to me about Istanbul and how beautiful the fireworks are there. And they also were teaching me Turkish. It is a lot easier learning a language when you are there to observe the conversations. 

Finally the fireworks came on and they lasted for about 10 minutes. I wasn't very impressed, but the ending of the show was really nice. 

Today has been a very patriotic day, and I hope you all had a great Fourth of July!