Thanksgiving

This last weekend I traveled to Meconta to celebrate Thanksgiving with some fellow PCVs. I finished classes early and got a ride with the Priest all the way there. When I got there the baking had already begun. We made all four pies that night: a pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple crumble and cashew pie! They all turned out delicious and tasted like America. :) After some baking we took a break and went to eat lunch at a “restaurant” in town. (It was a house where this woman, Cristina, cooks meals each day to make an income) While sitting there we saw some weird looking birds flying between the mango trees. After a while we decided they were actually bats! I had never seen a bat just flying so close to me—only those that were inside glass enclosures when I worked at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo.

Elizabeth pouring the pumpkin pie filling 

Jamie and Anna peeling apples for our pies

Cashew pie filling

Rafael stirring the cashews :)

Pumpkin pie cooking in the dutch oven

Saturday was a crazy day. We got up really early to start cooking the turkey and cooked all day up until our feast. Stephen and Rafael dug a large pit where we put some carvão (charcoal) and the turkey for it to cook in the large pot. Elizabeth, the amazing chef, made brine and stuffing for the turkey and let it cook all day. Throughout the day we also had other awesome PCVs make many snacks including: hummus and cucumbers, deviled eggs, pita chips and cheese dip, mint chocolate chip cookies, and snicker doodle cookies. While waiting for everything to cook we were able to take a break and play phase 10 (first time playing that game in over a year)…it was a great Thanksgiving celebration!

The turkey!

Our feast included turkey, stuffing, garlic bread, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and 4 delicious pies! We ate so much that afternoon for our thanksgiving dinner we were tired by 6pm!

Elizabeth and I 

Our delicious pies :)

Our Thanksgiving feast

Enjoying the food

It got dark early (as always) so we ended up laying on the esteira (reed mats) and star gazed. It was so peaceful to lie there looking at the stars. I cannot remember the last time I laid down and took the time to look up at the sky and the beauty there. While lying there the fruit bats keep swooping in and out of the mango tree. It reminded me of being at the zoo but then I remembered that I was in Mozambique laying under a mango tree with fruit bats all over, gazing at the vastness of the sky and thanking God for the wonderful people in my life. I didn’t spend Thanksgiving with my family in America but I was able to spend it with my Peace Corps family and it was just as nice :)

While you are getting ready for the holiday season this month please remember all your blessings try not to take them for granted. Many people, both near to you and in other countries, are struggling to live without the basic necessities of clean water, food, clothes or even a bed to sleep on. Say a prayer this month and if you think about try and do a random act of kindness for those people in need. I know I am beyond blessed. Even living here in a community where beds for children, clean water and food are scarce I see happy and giving people. They give without being asked and even when it is the last thing they have. I think we could all use a lesson from these wonderful people and I hope that I can be a witness to this and pay it forward one day.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! Safe travels to all the PCVs traveling during this next month. See you in 2 weeks Omaha!