week 5: 4th of July celebrations

Week 5 was all about the 4th of July. When working in an American Embassy you can imagine how big the 4th of July holiday is. Everyone from the embassy as well as local luminaries and members of the South African congress were attending a celebration party at the Consulate General's estate in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. This was to be my first interaction with members of the South African Congress as well as any notable important figures from Cape Town. The only task I was assigned by the senior official of the Department of Commerce back in Johannesburg was to mingle with members of the various local trade delegations and to be able to give an update on what they were looking into at the weekly meeting the upcoming week. I was able to listen to the speeches by both the Consulate General and Ambassador Gaspard who had made the trip down from Pretoria for the event. Afterwards I had a few moments with the Ambassador to ask him a few questions on his career and to take advantage of the special situation I found myself in. Overall, I was pleased and honored to be a part of the festivities.