Thanks giving

Moz 14ers and 15ers celebrate together

I spent Thanksgiving this year with the trainees in Namaacha.  It was an amazing spread!! 10 turkeys, buckets of mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate banana bread, apple crisp… I ate myself into a coma.  It also occurred to me that this is my 4^th Thanksgiving in Mozambique.  Year 1- Namaacha. Year 2- Chokwe. Year 3- Mapenhane. Year 4- Namaacha, coming full circle.  Each year has been extremely different- playing American football with 20 other trainees, trying to cook “American” food when all we could find was mandioca (cassava root) and squash, getting a turkey drunk before killing it, or cooking copious amounts of pies in dutch ovens because the power went out, again.  Each year has been so interesting and I’ve made a million different memories.  I can’t say any one year was a traditional Thanksgiving (not that I’m too used to that anyways- always dancing in The Nutcracker growing up, or eating crab rather than turkey for dinner), but each year has brought something new to my concept of Thanksgiving.  I’m so thankful for the experience I’ve had over the last three years.  I’ve gained working experience, I’ve grown tremendously as a person, I’ve gained family and friends, both Mozambicans and Americans, and because of Mozambique, my life has changed forever.  Thank you to everyone who’s supported me throughout this experience, helped picked me up when I’ve fallen, encouraged me to keep my head up even when I wanted to give up with every ounce on my being, and shared in all the amazing memories and joy I’ve experienced.  I could not have made it here without you.