US Embassy's Fourth of July Picnic

The fourth of July picnic was on the 6th since this is Brazil and for some reason they don't consider our day of independence as a national holiday. Go figure. It was held at the former Ambassador's residence, a big house with a huge park area that is perfect for the 1,500 or so people that came. Only about 200 were Americans.

There was a lot of food, many games for the kids, a high climbing wall, a really good cover band, the Marine Band, a lot of food, and fireworks at the end. While the Marines made the best big juicy hamburgers, there were hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn, Outback Steakhouse, Burger King, TGI Fridays, and Hooters (with the Hooter's girls). Everything was free of course.

When Ambassador Sobel spoke, I was ashamed. He has been here for two years (appointee not Foreign Service professional) and the small amount of Portuguese he spoke should have reflected that. The little he threw into his address was beyond terrible. It showed that he has put no effort at all into learning even the most basic pronunciation. He sounded like a phrasebook toting tourist that was 10 minutes off the plane. It made me cringe in embarrassment.

He introduced his new second in command, a woman only in-country for a week and she proceeded to continue his lack of sensitivity. She was quoting a Bush speech that would have been appropriate in the USA, but in front of a predominantly Brazilian crowd, the comment that "the US is the greatest country in the world" fell a little flat.

After these two things I was a little worried when, during the fireworks show, the fireworks display that spelled out the words "We love the USA & Brazil" lit up, it only said "We love the USA &". Not a good thing. The "Brazil" part was delayed by about 6 seconds. It was a good show though.

Overall, it was a great picnic, good food, good decorations, it felt generally American. I talked to a few Americans (all embassy family or staff) and one said I spoke very good English. Every time I spoke to an American I could always see a question in their face as to whether or not I was a fellow citizen. You cannot tell a Brazilian by their looks since the country is so diverse, but it is funny how easy it is to spot Americans among the Brazilians by the way we dress.