A Very Thai 4th of July

Okay so really I just wanted to end that last post so that I could make this one separate. Today was of course the 4th of July, but being that we are in Thailand, there were no parades or fireworks, and people just looked at us like we were crazy while we ran around being so excited that it was "July 4th," which to them of course just sounded like a regular date. Earlier today we actually had an activity in which the whole group took a bus to Ayutthya, which is the old capital of Thailand. There we got to check out some really cool ruins and, my favorite part, ride an elephant! It was a great day, but as the evening approached, we all got antsy to have a party to celebrate our independence. So our professor invited us to the house that he is renting, and we got all of the American food we could find and ended up just hanging out and watching Venus and Serena battle it out at Wimbledon. We were packed like sardines in that tiny house, but it was really fun to just hang out and be as American as possible for a few hours. Unfortunately fireworks are illegal here, but Dr. Steiner did throw out the idea of waving around incense sticks in place of sparklers. We ended our little gathering by singing the national anthem and, of course, our alma mater. :) It ended up being a really great end to a rather unusual 4th of July. And now as the rest of you are probably about to start your festivities, I am off to bed. Set off some fireworks for me!