Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day! I hope that you celebrated with loved ones, crisp fall weather, and lots of turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and of course pumpkin pie! This year I was a little put out that I had to work the day of Thanksgiving, but thank goodness the Muslim community also has their thanksgiving holiday the day after, so the Togolese government declared it a national holiday. I love 3 day weekends!
The night before Thanksgiving, after spending a week of talking about Thanksgiving at school and tracing my hand a million times to make turkeys and discussing what we’re thankful for with the kids, I was invited to the Ambassador’s home for an American feast. It was fun and I’m so glad that I had this opportunity! I wore my new pretty sundress and mingled and shared turkey and many other great treats. I’m sorry to report that there was no green bean casserole. I think that this summer I will bring back the fixins and I will bring it if I’m invited next year. Please, don’t get me wrong it was the most elegant Thanksgiving that I have partaken in. I ate off of plates that had the U.S. seal on them. I used real silver silverware. There were people walking around ready to give me cranberries and other treats and then collect my plate when I was finished. Then there was more talking. The house and compound was really nice as well. I didn’t realize until I went to the bathroom that it had been months (since before I arrived) that I’d seen myself in the mirror. I got a good look at the Ambassador’s house and it made me feel like a kid discovering my reflection in the hall outside of the bathroom. I’m glad no one caught me as they might have thought I was strange for sure.

From what I could see the Muslim community had a nice thanksgiving too. All of my students and colleagues who are Muslim told about the “sheeps” their family had bought and the oldest male in the family would slaughter them. Personally, I spent their lovely holiday laying on a beach lounger 20 yards from the waves, under a canopy fast asleep for several hours. It was amazing. I thought of you all a few times as I rolled over and gazed out into the Atlantic and knew you were on the other side coping with Black Friday. What can I say, life is rough when it is almost always 100 degrees every day.