Celebrating My Independence in a Most Independent Way

Since turning to a life of archaeology, I have celebrated very few ‘Fourth of Julys’ properly. Properly consists of 1. Being in America; 2. Eating delicious food fresh off the grill, various sorts of salads, and lots of watermelon; 3. Watching fireworks; and 4. Being on the beach or near water. That is what I, as a girl from the water-abundant places in the Midwest, think of as being good ways to celebrate being an American.

Well, it is the Fourth of July once again and once again I am not in America. I have not eaten anything delicious today except for the last of my jelly beans which I brought from the States. There are certainly no fireworks, although I could probably count the lightening we had. And the closest I have come to a beach was the sand that got in between my toes and I hurried through the park on the way back from the museum during a watery downpour. Here I am in France, probably the only American for at least 30km, celebrating my independence to the fullest extent…alone.

I know, I am in France!, but the Fourth of July is my second favorite holiday (Thanksgiving will always take the pie!) and while I am here alone in this dark and abandoned dormitory (yes, the very same one from last year), it makes me miss home and the few traditions I still enjoy. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to recount some of my favorite July 4^th celebrations that took place outside of the U.S.A.

2011

Last year I was in the city of Chatillon-sur-Seine, France having arrived the day or so before from Dijon. I did have someone ask ‘Oh, isn’t this your country’s birthday? Happy Birthday!’ This made me smile a bit. Nothing else that exciting happened. Ten days later though, I was back in Dijon and they were celebrating their country’s Bastille Day complete with some spectacular fireworks! (See this post for photos). I silently pretended they were for America. 

2009

I was a week into excavations at Alalakh in southern Turkey. The heat was unbearable most days, but the evenings were rather comfortable. There were a fair number of Americans at the site, so we all knew what the day should hold in store. The Fourth of July fell on a Saturday, which meant we had both Friday and Saturday to celebrate since it was still early in the season. We grilled like we did every weekend and at some delicious, delicious food! There was music, dancing, and lots of alcohol to go around. It was a beautiful night for sleeping on the roof and watching the stars pass through the night sky.

2007

After a day of excavating at the coastal site of Kenchreai, we headed back to our hotel in ancient Corinth, Greece. We were an American run excavation and there were about fifty of us. There was no way we were not going to celebrate the Fourth of July! I remember I packed party hats and noisemakers for the event! I think there may have even been a birthday or two that we decided to celebrate as well. Before we even began, we were told by our project leader that we should not draw attention to ourselves or be loud (this was at about the height of the world hating us). We said we would move our cocktail party to the back porch instead of the roof and celebrate there; a fair compromise it seemed to us. Well, the noise makers did not go over well with the project director and we were told to ‘shush!’. It did not matter though because even though the noise makers went away, the party hats stayed as did all of our cocktail attire and joyful spirits! We even had sparklers! It was a fantastic celebration with a wonderful, laid back group of people with whom I shared some of the greatest memories and conversations of my excavation career.

2006

And finally, probably my favorite Fourth of July celebration away from home. I was near Batman, Turkey in the southeast excavating with local residents and ‘the Italians’. As per usual in that part of Turkey, it was hot. There were four American students (including myself and my soon-to-be-best-friend, Ami), and our professor from GVSU. I seem to remember the students discussing what we should do for the Fourth of July, if anything at all. We all seemed to be a bit disappointed that we would miss it. When we arrived back at the hut that night, we found that while the Italians were at the market, they found a form of sausage that is about as close as one can get to a hotdog in a foreign land. We had all the proper fixings for our ‘hotdogs’ on the grill and tons of watermelon! I believe there was some mild drinking involved as well. This was by far the most special Fourth of July for me because there was a tender extension of consideration and respect for our traditions. Buying hotdogs may seem like a simple and silly thing to gush over, but at that time with so much of the world despising us, it made me see that some people could recognize that we were people too and that we did not need to be ashamed of who we were.

That wonderful hotdog...

After remembering these past Fourth of July celebrations, I come to see that you do not need to be in America to celebrate the Fourth of July, but it does work best if there are other Americans to celebrate with you! Hope you all celebrate the crap out of today for me!