Upon a day Apart

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, the promise of being around people that understand you better than you do yourself without the pressure of Christmas or other holidays. In college, it was the saving grace from schoolwork, allowing me just enough time away to avoid turning into an essay-writing zombie.

This year was a lot harder than I expected it to be, being alone. Yes, I could have made it a lot better by doing my job as an example of America by sharing this holiday with my site but I didn't have the willpower to do so. There were no five minute gaps in the lessons where I could talk about it with my students. I dared not create a meal for my host family because any previous attempts have ended in ridicule (too spicy, it should look like this despite not knowing that I known what I'm doing...) and outside of my budget. I did however attempt to make a pumpkin pie, one for myself and one to share at the school. Unfortunately the crust on the one I was planning to share turned black within twenty minutes of putting it in the oven. I don't know what's that about. Since I've found that presentation is more important than substance here, I figured I'd save myself the embarrassment and just claim it for myself. Good thing because once my landlady came home and saw the piles of it in the fridge (a medium sized serving bowl) she freaked out about how much there was and how such a thing as pie from pumpkin can't exist. I guess I should have tossed half of it to the chickens to avoid suspicions but I really wanted it too. It's quite good, though heavy on the organic. I don't think I'll make a lifetime switch to carving and boiling my pumpkin anytime soon.

Peace Corps was nice enough to give us the day off at the last minute. I didn't feel like traveling over ten hours so that I could be with a few other volunteers for a meal since I had responsibilities on Friday at school. So instead I had a regular 8 to 6 with plenty of breaks made less depressing through the hope of being able to catch family online in the evening. Unfortunately, my Internet was down so I ended up doing a combination of work preparation that required little thought while tearing up to self-imposed sad music I associate with family vacations of the past. I think the entire day I ate an apple and a piece of pie. Yes, it was quite pathetic.



I do have a lot to be thankful for this year. All the generalized cliches run past me; thankful for being here and having this opportunity, thankful for people that support me through this exercise of always feeling out of place. I'm thankful for learning how to live on less than $2 of spending money a day (I don't count rent, heating, or my Internet bill). I'm also extremely thankful for (mostly) running water, Internet, and an inside toilet. Perhaps that's a low blow, but honestly having weekly electricity and water cuts has taught me just how distant I am from what supports me daily.