Turkey Day!

Today is the American Holiday dedicated to eating, football, shopping (well, the day after), and of course being thankful. Thanksgiving has had an interesting history in my life. When I was growing up, Thanksgiving dinner was going to our favorite Chinese restaurant at the time. In college, I worked for the basketball team and season was just beginning when Thanksgiving rolled around, which meant that I didn't go home for Thanksgiving. As a result, freshman year, my roommates and I made Thanksgiving dinner in our apartment and the day of, I went over to my friend's house. Although my roommates changed, the tradition didn't. I would bake up a bunch of pumpkin pies and we would celebrate Thanksgiving. There was one year when the team had a tournament in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving, so we had dinner on a grass lawn overlooking the ocean.

I didn't have a "normal" Thanksgiving at home until last year. Junior year of college, my sisters decided that they wanted to start making Thanksgiving Dinner at home. I was working, so I didn't experience it until last Thanksgiving, in between graduating and leaving for Peace Corps. It was fantastic! It was mostly the experience of planning the dinner and then cooking with my sisters. With me going to LA for school, I didn't spend a lot of time with my sisters for four years. After graduation, when I returned home preparing to leave for Peace Corps, I had the opportunity to spend time with them again. My oldest sister makes a delicious crab dip that we started eating before the cooking got underway. As the day progressed, we opened a bottle of wine and started cooking. It was marvelous and in the end we had a delicious meal.

This year, I am having two Thanksgiving dinners. We had a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner a couple nights ago and Thanksgiving Dinner tonight. Currently, we have a live Turkey tied up at the regional house. Our menu includes green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and pies! I wish I could be at home with my family, but I'm happy that I'm celebrating Thanksgiving with a great group of people.

So, now I'm going to be corny and talk about what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my family and all their support. The text messages and care packages mean so much to me. I'm grateful that they allowed me to undergo this journey and are behind me every step of the way. Being in Peace Corps is difficult and I couldn't do it if I didn't have a strong support system back home. I'm thankful for my friends at home. The facebook messages, emails, and skype dates make me smile. I know that they are so busy in the states, but when they take a moment to say, I'm thinking of you, it makes me appreciate their friendship so much. The surprise packages that I don't expect make me giddy at the post office (which makes the post office man look at me like I have two heads). Being so far away makes staying in people's lives difficult, but I know that once I get back, we'll pick up right where we left off.

I'm thankful for all my new Peace Corps friends. As much as I LOVE my friends and family, I don't think they can fully grasp what my life is like here. My friends here are going through the exact same thing I am and they can understand the ups & downs. I've made many good friends in the 8 short months that I've been in country and I probably would've ETed (Early termination...of service) without their support. They let me rant and rave about work and about people I encounter. I believe that they will continue to be close friends after my Peace Corps experience.

I'm thankful that I am where I am now. Not that long ago, I was contemplating going to Medical school (I even took the MCATs) and I realize that I couldn't have gone straight to medical school after undergrad. I'm glad that I had a change of mind that brought me here to Senegal. Everything I'm learning is going to help me in my future course of work, be it medical school or something else. I am in an amazing village with people who are really excited that I'm here in this country. When I have a bad day or a miserable alhum (bus-kinda) ride out to village, I get there, look out into the farro dotted by palm trees and think about how lucky I am to be here.

I'm thankful for good food. I'm also thankful for a million other things. I will no longer take the little things for granted and I appreciate so much more. Being here in Senegal, I am more grateful about things in my life.

Thank You for reading my blog. I'm thankful that people take the time to read my random thoughts.

Happy Thanksgiving!