We used to spend every Fourth of July at the Ambassador’s, eating hotdogs and drinking coke. But they moved to Jerusalem and sold the house on the sea, and we stopped getting invitations anyway. So I can’t even feel the celebration of democracy that always made me very emotional in the past. It’s different than Independence Day here, which is about the creation of an independent state and less about the concept of independence.

I don’t miss the fireworks, though. Fireworks always make me look for shelter.