4th of July

No fireworks, but some people do take US Independence Day seriously here. We went to an Americo-Liberian 4th of July party last night, with an American flag cake and everything. I talked to a guy who owns a road construction company, a rubber plantation owner, a computer technician, one of the Iron Lady's guards, a documentary filmmaker, and a guy who's planning to start a nightclub. The hostess had us all sing the US national anthem, which morphed into the Liberian national anthem at the end. One of the guests tried to make the US flag cake into a Liberian flag by squishing the icing around with her finger. People rapped along with Biggie and Jay-Z, danced to Donna Summer and R.Kelly, drank fresh pina coladas. We ate spicy escargot, a Liberian delicacy of enormous snails. On the rainy, dark and muddy drive out there, we saw the ruins of dozens of fancy beach homes that were built before the wars. Big stacks of cinderblocks were everywhere, like people are starting to rebuild. [Thanks Henry for inviting us, and happy birthday!]