4th of July: part 2

The day after the huge 4th of July event,
there was a mini 4th of July event.
Same place,
same decorations,
just less food
and less formality.

There was still really good food, though,
and I ate cornbread
and it was sooo delicious
and it reminded me of home
and Oklahoma.

For some reason,
the week before this party,
I thought it would be a smart idea
to sign up to be a judge
in the pie baking contest
(not a pie eating contest).

I guess it could have been a pie eating contest, though,
because there were 12 pies entered,
and we were expected to try them all
and after 5,
I thought I was going to throw up,
so the bites I took out of the last 7 pies
were the size of M&Ms
and I asked 3 people if I could call for a substitute.
Apparently, that isn't allowed....
something about "consistency".
Whatever.

I finished the judging
and managed to not throw up.
Pierce had taken the train down from Graz that day
to be my date for the party
and he kept asking if I'd introduce him to the Ambassador.
I told him no
and that the Ambassador barely knows me
and that he is too important for Pierce.

So imagine my surprise
when Pierce and I were sitting at the party, eating lunch,
and the Ambassador randomly walks over
and asks if he can join our table.
He and Pierce were more than chatty,
which Pierce was more than happy about.
The Ambassador told us funny stories about Obama,
because they have been friends since before Obama was a senator
(obviously they are friends,
Obama appointed him Ambassador in Vienna).

He told us a lot of really funny stories
and talked to us about his German classes.
Like I said,
he really loved Pierce,
which was funny because Pierce has no relation
to the Embassy whatsoever,
and the person who actually works for the Ambassador daily
sat there trying to get a word in edgewise
while Pierce used his fraternity social skills
to control the conversation.
Cool, Pierce.

There was also a water balloon game taking place,
which I wasn't paying much attention to
because I was talking to my intern friends,
Laura and Peter (bottom photo),
until I looked up
and saw Pierce was participating in the balloon game,
along with all the Embassy children.
So he had no trouble fitting in at all.

Other than me feeling like I was going to vomit
due to the excessive pie-eating,
it was a good day.

Some fun facts:

* Laura thinks it is so cool that my dad makes honey.
* I think Peter looks like Ken (of Barbie and Ken).
* Laura goes to A&M.
* Peter goes to Stanford.
* The 3 of us all live on the same street.
* They are interns at the U.N.
*I love them both.