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| America+Guinea |
In honor of yesterday's
Bastille Day, let's bring back the 4th of July. Abdoulaye, Cassie and I along with friends made our way to a park in Maryland to
celebrate America's independence with the Guinean community of Maryland, DC & Virginia. There was an ice cream truck, lots of hamburgers, hot dogs, corn and watermelon,a live DJ and a blow-up castle for jumping around. A great 4th for Abdoulaye's 1st in the US.
Cassie and I made cakes to celebrate - a carrot American flag and a banana Guinean. It took awhile to get folks to share in our baking but the DJ, who was speaking in French, made an announcement for everyone to go by the picnic area where the white girls are sitting since they made cakes for everyone. We were momentarily transported back to West Africa!
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| Abdoulaye's first 4th of July in the US! |
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| Cassie is a master baker and has the best recipes. |
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| Abdoulaye promised us the Ambassador to the US would cut the cakes...maybe next year?? |
It was such a treat to share in the day with N'tossoma, far right, who was one of Cassie's Peace Corps bosses for her sector (health) and who now works for the Peace Corps in Guinea not far from Abdoulaye's family. N'tossoma came to the US for a month for a Peace Corps training (and vacation!). Abdoulaye's family sent hard copies of their wedding pictures from their celebration, along with video, and we were able to send copies from our celebration back home with him.
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| Virginia Beach! |
Following the fourth we headed to Virginia Beach to see my family. We were lucky enough to see my nephew (and brother and sister-in-law!) who is growing so quickly. It's a blessing to be close enough to see family as often as I do - a lot more frequently than once a year (or worse, once every two years!).
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| With Badara, Sean & Abdoulaye |
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| Oh man. I need to frame this - thank you, Sean for such a great photo! |
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| A little sunshine on my face, a lot of sunshine in my life. |
