Thanksgiving

So im way delayed in updates since Christmas is this week and im writing about Thanksgiving. I still thought that this was good though so I will share it anyhow. Sorry if their is any errors I hadnt gotten a chance to read it even since I wrote a rough draft!

Thanksgiving comes no matter what continent you find yourself on and how far from family and friends you may be. For those who live outside of American culture this day passes by like any other void of great meaning or purpose.

Being far from home I find my mind drifting off as I think of family and friends gathered around a beautiful table over flowing with a bounty of delicious food. My mind is caught up in this romantic dream of a Hollywood story when the reality is that this day too will pass weather I find myself falling asleep on the sofa after over stuffing as the football game plays on in the background, ahhh a wonderful picture of home! Instead I find myself chatting amongst new friends as many experience their first thanksgiving feast. All through out the world there seems to be a mixture of happiness and sorrow over the holidays, the reality of life follows us. Some of us have comfortable homes others may find themselves alone watching the lives of others flicker across the screen as they choke down their bland tv dinner they picked up the gas station in which they ended up paying way to much all together for frozen food. This year I find myself peering over to the other side of reality, finding gratitude for what sits in front of me, I miss my family and friends but looking around me I see that I am far from alone. Some were in the middle of it all maybe we can see humanity for what it is, a colorful mixture.

Thanksgiving week!

The agenda for the week find a turkey. Though I get to enjoy the avoidance of an over crowded supermarkets, digging through the freezer to find the proper bird I have to say that this seems like a small feat when faced with trying to find a turkey at all.

We set out to the task early this week making our menu and then revising it based on what truly would be possible taking in account that ingredients are limited along with the nature of a charcoal stove. Almost all of our food comes from the mainland which is a two hour boat ride. This might not seem like much but you have to account for large quantities of food needing transport to the docks along with travel time (four hours total). When ever we do food purchases for home it truly takes a full day therefore it is done once a week and menus on the island are shaped accordingly, of course the heat and lack of refrigeration limits the freshness of produce and the storing of meat. This being the case we are in search of a live bird from the island, none of us girls want the duty of traveling in a taxi and two hours on a boat with a live turkey. Divide and conquer is our strategy.

The week is busy we have been meeting with the head leadership on the base who are have just had there third child about two weeks ago. All has gone well so they are returning home to the islands and Shem has come home to try and prepare his quarters for his family. Mostly getting out all the critters and wiping out all the cob webs. Things get dirty quickly even if your home is unused.

It seems that when things are busy that unexpected things are bound to happen! The week before I had been staying in Jinja and had noticed I got some bug bits on my back and thinking they were nothing out of the ordinary and really not knowing were they came from I followed my usual rendition of Hydrocortisone cream and tried my best not to scratch. By Tuesday the bights had become red and turned into welts on my back that were visible even to others even when clothed quite painful too now really. Now thankfully we have been blessed with a nurse from the states on the island. I little alarmed I went to Karina who was able to check them out. She told me to wait one more day and for now to take some allergy meds. Following her instructions I waited till the next day only to see they were worse and even more painful. Unfortunately this meant it was time to go under the knife. Laying on my bed she numbed the wound and then made a tiny slice in my skin squeezing the wound to get out what ever was irritating when out came a tiny worm. She looked unsurprised not wanting to worry me she had held off for another day for the worm to increase in size thus making it easier to get out, four wounds four worms. These worms are from mango flies which can burrow into your clothes biting you and laying their eggs in you skin thus producing worms. The only way to kill them is to make sure all your clothes are ironed after being washed. The heat of the iron kills them off. What I can tell you is that when doing laundry this week every item of clothing got ironed down to the underwear, having something burrow in my back is one thing my butt is quite another. The worms are gone and my back broke out in a rash making things worse before they got better but at least im ridded of any pests that want to take up residence.

On the mend I wondered around Wednesday day still looking for a bird. It seems that everyone owning a turkey on the island is fatting them up to get a good price for Christmas which means they want to sell you a small bird for the price of a bird that would be properly fattened by Christmas. Others are unwilling to part with their turkeys saving them aside for their own families. We have put many out on the hunt and sometime after lunch those searching are assured that there is no turkey to be find and perhaps we should buy some goat or chickens. Saddened I still refuse to give up the dream of a turkey. Thankfully so when after dinner Papa O comes with good news one fattened turkey for thirty thousand shillings (around fifteen dollars) this is actually a good price and a rather large turkey too. Now comes the difficult question we have the bird who is going to kill it and how are we going to cook it.

Thursday morning comes and everyone at base spends the morning late in bed. Terrible storms have set out this week and we have spent most of the week in sweatshirts do to the chill in the air. We had thought that we could dig a pit outside and create a way to roast a turkey but with the overcast the weather won’t be clearing any time soon.

The rain lets up and we go to purchase the bird and Karina whose known on the base as the killer (this the nickname for a nurse) agrees to attempt to kill the bird. We set out to prepare the meal Karina with her bag of knives in hand and grab the bird. Taking out her Machete we find a large rock to put the bird on and Papa O holds it down. With out going into great detail lets just say that I wouldn’t say this bird went peacefully. My job was to help skin the bird which we decided was so much easier than plucking it. I would also be the head cook in the kitchen that day which is rather intimidating with charcoal grills. I have an idea that if we have enough pots we can create something similar to a nesco to roast the bird with out cutting it into pieces or having to boil it. Let me just say that anyone who hates the process of cleaning the bird has seen nothing in comparison to a fresh kill.

Ruthie and I worked all day in the kitchen with great success for our first education in African cooking. At the end of the day we were proud to say that we had accomplished creating ninety percent of the meal on our own. The menu roasted turkey with basil rosemary and thyme, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, homemade cornbread, gravy, and chai tea with milk. This was the most traditional American meal that I have had since my arrival.

We set up the dinning hut with tablecloths covered with fall leaves from home and set out the food. Serving our friends the feast Karina shared about the first Thanksgiving. In a full hut we all sat one by one going around and sharing our gratitude for family, friendship, provision, and that through the diversity in this room we all had a piece to offer one another and through that we are gathered, to share more than a meal but to share our lives.

Truly I can’t say that I didn’t miss home this year. Waking up to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade. Thinking of my family preparing their meals and gathering around the table. Falling asleep on the couch with football echoing in the background. Home can never be replaced some how in Africa I have found a greater appreciation for the family I love and miss at home and a thankfulness for the diversity that surrounded me for this day. To all of you at home I hope Thanksgiving has found you well this year and that as the days move forward that gratitude will remain through the overwhelming nature of the Christmas season.