Happy Fourth of July!

Yesterday our motley group of American housemates celebrated our nation's independence at a fancy hotel somewhere in the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq.

We'd been looking forward to the party for weeks, or at least I had. The flyer our housemate Darshak showed me had a picture of a big straw hat like the kind they wear in New Hampshire parades, details written in red, white and blue, fireworks promised and most importantly, the words "AMERICAN BARBECUE!"

Even though I knew I wouldn't even smell a pork rib within 50 miles of the event, I kept my hopes high.

We piled into a taxi and headed out toward the hotel, which was way, way outside of town. Security was tight and once we got to the hotel on top of a huge hill in the middle of nowhere we realized that the barren hillside was in fact peppered with personal security dudes, armored land cruisers and the occasional serious looking man in fatigues. The army guys looked at us a little funny when the five of us spilled out of the cab in front of the lobby.

[Jon taking a snap of those armored cars in front of the lobby]

The party was, like any Fourth of July celebration, in the backyard. I'm not sure where they found this, but Friends of Kurdistan had a 5-story-tall flag strung up from the hotel's roof.

There were hundreds of American contractors, dignitaries and families milling about and I can assure you that the small talk was just as awkward as it is back in the States. But some things just weren't the same. There was an egg toss and tug-o-war, which was great:



But somehow there was still too much absent from this party. Like music, or loud rowdy people drinking copiously (though somehow I have a feeling that had to do a lot more with the overpriced cash bar).

But worst of all? NO BARBECUE. Not a single marinated hock of beef. Nothing that even resembled American barbecue. There were lamb hamburgers, but no cheese. There were hot dogs, but no ketchup or mustard. And there were absolutely no hamburger or hotdog buns of any kind.

God bless America and their six-packs of fluffy hot dog buns.

So I'll admit that the whole thing was a little weird. They set off the fireworks a little early and I can safely say that in any country there are always a few random fireworks that go off at the end after the finale is over. Then afterward, everyone filed out and went home. It was a work night in Iraq.

I wish I had some great insight between Iraq and the United States, some great wisdom to share about spending our independence day in a place that we "set free," about what that means really. About the words America uses in places like Iraq, like freedom and democracy. What that means to us and to Iraq as nations. But no one got drunk enough to have that conversation at the party last night. Maybe we can start that discussion here. Anyone have that conversation at a rager last night? I'd love to hear what you were thinking as the fireworks blasted.