Givin-Thanks

I found it difficult to try and explain the concept of Thanksgiving to Kenyans. Not because they won't understand it, but because I don't want to tell them it's another American holiday based around gorging ourselves with food and watching television. Luckily, Peace Corps respects this tradition and therefore arranged for us to stay with American families living in Nairobi for a few days. It is sort of like being on another planet because it doesn't quite feel like America and it definitely doesn't feel like Kenya. I went from living in a house with no running water & a charcoal stove to staying in a two-story condo with 5 bathrooms & free internet access in a matter of hours. I would compare it to the Twilight Zone (which, by the way, I watched last night and was surprised to find out it was pure crap... did anyone ever think that was a good show?). Anyhow. The woman that was kind enough to take us in for Thanksgiving has quite an incredible life... which she probably doesn't want me to divulge in this blog. However, I will say she is a civil engineer (coincidence?) and a very gracious hostess. She doesn't cook (because she has better things to do, and who doesn't?), so we went to another family's house for Thanksgiving dinner last night and I ate until I thought I would throw up. It was sweet. I meant to take pictures of the food so that I could look back at them in 6 months and cry myself to sleep, but I was too overwhelmed and besides, I wouldn't have been able to shovel food in quite as fast with a camera in one hand. The picture is of Daphyne (PCT), our hostess, and myself. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and believe me, I gave thanks for having all of you in my life (well, not the people who just randomly found my blog, but I'm sure you're good people, too).