Celebrating an American holiday in another country is different but there are many ways to replicate the foods and traditions you are accustomed to. This past 4th of July, we did just that. Our family spent the day with fellow American missionaries, the Peters, and one other family, the Brown's. Keith Brown is American and moved to with his Hungarian wife, Rita, to Hungary and they have one son, Cameron.
Our afternoon was spent firing up the grill for some chicken, hot dogs, and cheesy sausage. Rita brought potato salad over and we are able to get Heinz baked beans here. Watermelons are plenteous here, so we got a large juicy one. Other doods that we can get that would be great for our meal that we did not get are hamburgers, corn (on the cob, of course!), cantaloupe, vegetables for a garden salad and a small selection of salad dressings.
Marshmallows are difficult to find, but occasionally we see them in the international food section of the grocery stores. We can't find graham crackers here, but there are alternatives for s'mores, such as using Oreos, chocolate chip cookies or a cracker that tastes more like animal crackers. Homemade cookies and crackers ate also an option for s'mores.
Fireworks on the 4th were not a possibility but there are substitutes we could use. The internet has made staying connected with events going on across the Atlantic convenient, so pulling up a video of fireworks is easy as apple pie and watching a patriotic themed church service is the next best thing to actually being in the service. Know a parade going on in your home town that you don't want to miss? Ask a friend or relative who is there anyway to put it on Facebook live for you to see. So many possibilities!
Below are some pictures of ourselves celebrating an American holiday in Hungary.
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