Rising out of the dust and heat of the desolate Mojave Desert a shrine to new America stands and shines in radioactive neon splendor for those who wish to feel the rush of the sprint towards the American Dream. Las Vegas, Nevada sometimes known as Sin City for those who harbor a bit of bitterness toward that town’s extremely mild winters. It is known around the world as the place where American culture is compressed and sped up and coiled so tight it’s bound to spontaneously combust.

Founded, ironically, by Mormon settlers in the early 20^th century it was a small town until the 1950s when Bugsy Segal made his home on the Las Vegas Strip further fuelling the expanding casino industry in the area. And as over 800 nuclear weapons were detonated just to the North of the city the metropolis sprawled, coating the desert floor of the Las Vegas Valley with its distinctive pre-fab stucco homes.

The 1990s saw an even bigger explosion of activity on the strip with the creation of enormous, themed mega hotels like the MGM Grand, The Bellagio and the New York, New York. Las Vegas was deemed the “adult Disneyland” and the casino owners began to focus on a more family centric experience in their hotels, while the parents played at the roulette tables, the kids could play at Ping-Pong tables.

After you arrive in McCarran Airport you will be assailed by all manner of taxis, shuttles and buses just jumping at the opportunity to take you to the Strip where you will have your choice of the many hotels. But gambling and drinking are not the only things to do in this ostentatious town. Indeed, a stroll down the sidewalk of the Strip is worth a day in of itself to view the shows that run all day long, to observe the architecture of the casino buildings, to shop and shop and shop, Las Vegas is also home to a great many restaurants of which you will surely never be bored.

The attractions downtown are endless and many people never leave the few square miles surrounding their hotel. Here’s a fun fact that you can brag about to your friends: the Las Vegas Strip is not technically in Las Vegas, it is located in Paradise, Nevada the largest, by population, unincorporated township in the United States.

However, there are other places in the Las Vegas area that are worth seeing on your trip if you tire of the boisterous noise and lights of the Strip’s night life. Mount Charleston is a cool reprieve from the heat of the desert floor and offers hiking year round and skiing in the winter. Beautiful Red Rock Canyon is a must see destination for hikers, cyclists and rock climbers, not to mention amateur geologists. The hoover dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona is an engineering marvel and an important piece of American history and nearby Lake Mead offers some pretty wet and wild times.

So be sure to visit Las Vegas sometime, there’s all sorts of fun to be had there!

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As a special addition to this blog we will regularly examine a famous immigrant who contributed significantly to American culture. The U.S. is a country of immigrants and you might be pleasantly surprised to learn their stories and where these personalities come from.

A Shaky Start

Irving Berlin emigrated from the Russian country-side to escape the Tsar’s pogroms, state sanctioned massacres of Russian Jews. He ended up living with his family in the poorest part of New York City and he struggled to help his parents make ends meet. After a while he began a career singing popular songs and then eventually writing them. His career was unbelievably successful and his songs are some of the most familiar tunes in the Western world.

Popular music holds a special place in the American character and if you’d care to disagree with that statement just look out for the next argument you hear on the street about whether or not a particular song is good or not. You won’t have to wait long to see people’s passions in music!

Irving Berlin’s Songs

For many Americans, childhood memories often contain vivid recollections of Christmas time: the smell of cookies or traditional dinners, the peppermint taste of candy, the excitement of the season and Christmas songs. One of the more famous Christmas songs is entitled “White Christmas” and encapsulates the excited memories of Americans’ childhood winters with the opening line:

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,

Just like the ones I used to know…”

The concept of patriotism is also very close to many Americans and the symbols of patriotism are given real weight. It is this weight that makes it quite taboo to treat these symbols with dis-respect. It may be a building or a flag or even a song. “God Bless America” is one of those objects that has acquired America’s admiration. For a period of time in the middle of the 20^th century many people lobbied to have it replace “The Star Spangled Banner” as the national anthem, though they could not get this request through congress, it is still, practically, a second national anthem.

Berlin’s Legacy

The content of Berlin’s lyrics was about the country he loved and all of the things that entailed. He exalted in the freedom and genuineness of the American peoples. Patriotic to a fault he was even proud to pay taxes. When he was advised to hide his money from the government he ignored the advice and continued to pay the amount in full every year!

Irving Berlin was presented with a chance to build himself up from nothing in the United States. He did, and now he is immortalized by his life’s work.

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Various activities were organized to celebrate Independence Day. Parades, family activities and concerts were a part of the Independence Day celebrations. Fourth of July being a national day and a federal holiday, brought together all the people of the United States.

Apart from all those leisure activities, USCIS planned special naturalization ceremonies. 4,000 immigrants are new American citizens after taking the Oath of Allegiance. Becoming American citizens is the dream of many immigrants who are permanent residents in the United States, for many years. The special naturalization ceremonies helped such immigrants to achieve their American goal, by allowing them to become citizens of the United States.

Many new citizens celebrated the Independence day as US citizens for the first time. As there is no age limit for a person to become a US citizen through the naturalization process, many elderly people also got a chance to become US citizens. The most exalting part of the special naturalization ceremonies is the administration of the Oath of Allegiance. Most of the new citizens were moved when they were presented the naturalization certificates. Most naturalization ceremonies last for about an hour.

A special naturalization ceremony which was held in the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum on July 3rd granted citizenship certificates to 14 children of immigrants. This ceremony is one of the many special naturalization ceremonies being held to commemorate the nation’s 236th birthday. Those children who were granted citizenship certificates had already derived citizenship through their parents.

The parents who were once immigrants, became US citizens through the naturalization process before their children turned 18. 14 children of such naturalized US citizen parents were provided citizenship certificates, as a proof of their legal status in the United States as US citizens. USCIS field officer of Sacramento, Michael Biggs said that the citizenship certificates given to them are important identity documents, like a passport which they must possess forever. The certificates given to the children contained a passport-style photograph with other information including their name, country of origin, date of birth and the alien registration number.

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