Fun 4th of July

Now, I didn´t get to admire fireworks, watch the Nathan´s Hot Dog contest or sit around a barbecue. But I did get the opportunity to contribute to one of Peace Corps` three goals - raising cultural awareness of the United States with people in other countries.

I went to help someone start a garden in their house, and during some of the downtime, I talked with his wife. Here is a transcript of the conversation (translated, of course).

Wife: Is the United States bigger than Ecuador?

Ian: Yes

Wife: Is it bigger than Peru?

Ian: Yes, it´s bigger than Brazil.

Wife: Is it close to the ocean?

Ian: It touches three oceans.

The Peace Corps has three goals - one of them involves technical assitance in sustainable development, while the other two speak to raising cultural awareness. And it is these two that often get overlooked, but judging by how I celebrated my country´s independence day, these two goals are just as important.