on the 4th of july...

i spent my 4th of july at a celebration for the 50th anniversary of peace corps (and searching for sparklers with no avail).

did you know peace corps has been around that long? pretty neat.

the event was held at USP (the vanutau branch of the University of the South Pacific)...and everyone who was anyone was there. well, kind of.

richard, who works at peace corps and has a velvety smooooth voice mc'ed (there he is in the white).

 and the former president of vanuatu,  Kalkot Mataskelekele, gave a long winded speech (but, seriously, check out that beard)... 

and my pcv friend, vania, and her girls choir from the village of ekipe in north efate came to sing a song that vania wrote about peace corps that just about made you want to cry (and then after the ceremony, they did 'let it be' and 'blowing in the wind', i might have teared up a bit then...but i am a bit of a sap for young people singing songs that relate to my basic beliefs in life)...

 and a string band from epau, the village where i spent my first two months of training, came! our very own string band live performance! strings galore!

peace corps invited EVERYONE...jamie the hairdresses who cuts everyone's hair when they get in from the islands with greasy mops...and this is genna, who owns pacific paradise, the hotel where peace corps puts volunteers up when they are staying in vila. we spent a good bit of time together when i was in between houses early this year. she is an absolute delight and takes really great care of us... 

next is judy, our peace corps lanaguage coordinator, with danielle and me. all of the pc staff had outfits made out of the same material for the event.

the woman that chose it did so because it was red, white, and blue AND because it had hibiscus flowers on it...just like she thought we have on the american flag : ) 

and this is everyone that made it in for the ceremony...

peace corps isn't flawless. but it brings people together. it allows cultures that would otherwise be unaware of one another the opportunity to be friends. shoot, to be family.

that really is my peace corps family.

and that made for a pretty special 4th of july.

even without the sparklers.