This was probably the only chance in our lives to celebrate a major U.S. Holiday in a town of the same name. After all, it’s unlikely you’d ever be somewhere called Christmas or Easter on that exact day.
Gracias cityscape
Hanging out at the Spanish fort
One of the churches of Gracias
Thanksgiving seems to me one of those holidays that becomes more important when you don’t have the opportunity to participate. In the U.S., it’s an event you look forward to with excitement (mostly for gorging yourself) but at the same times perhaps a little dread, will Aunt So and So be there and insist on talking my ear off, will your step-mom be able to act sane after three bottles of Chardonnay…etc etc. I have to admit that Thanksgiving was never my favorite holiday or the most anticipated.
Then all the sudden, you’re living in Honduras and haven’t seen your family in 9 months and at the mere mention of November, you are already planning the details of a big gringo get-together to celebrate. Perhaps it’s that we look for any excuse to get out of site, speak English and drink uncontrollably, but it’s also that longing for a sense of something familiar, something American that marks this time of year.
And so we found ourselves among good friends and new volunteers, along with a few random gringos who just showed up, sharing a Thanksgiving feast together to remind us of home. It may have been one of the finest Thanksgivings I’ve attended, we really did it right. Two 9 lb turkeys, one stuffed and oven baked, the other deep fried in 5 gallons of oil in a huge cauldron heated over a wood burning fire – that was a feat. Real mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, delicious red cabbage, classic green bean casserole, and of course my family’s famous sausage stuffing (it was a hit Mom). We topped it off with pumpkin and pecan pie, chocolate cake and cinnamon rolls, followed by rousing and controversial games of beer pong, Peace Corps Jeopardy and Celebrity.
This is how you fry a turkey, Peace Corps style
A real Thanksgiving meal
Peace Corps Jeopardy
| Things we are thankful for: | Things you should be thankful for that you probably take for granted: |
| Each other | Being able to easily get together with friends and family for the holidays without having to take cramped, 4 hour bus rides |
| Candles | The fact that candles are primarily used for ambiance and romance, not much needed light |
| Electroducha | Constant hot water infinitely adjustable with separate knobs |
| Ceramic water filter in a bucket | Potable tap water that you don’t have to worry about accidentally swallowing in the shower |
| Dial-up speed internet in our house | Broadband speed internet on your cell phone |
| People who throw water on the street to keep the dust down | Paved, dust free streets that don’t contribute to constant sinus infections |
| Tarps and the kindness of strangers | The fact that riding in a pickup doesn’t mean sitting in the bed with a tarp over your head to stay dry from the rain |
| Finding a bottle of sage for my stuffing | Having mega-grocery stores which carry every item known to man, most likely within a 5 minute drive from your house |
| Not having Leishmania (another story for later) | Not having to worry about insects that carry chronic, monster, tropical diseases that can only be treated at Tulane |
The aforementioned tarp in pickup truck scenario
But what we are most thankful for is having the opportunity to live in another country and experience the culture, constantly meeting new people, not only from Honduras, but from all over the world, and sometimes even a bunch of guys from the University of Michigan (there was a group that joined our Thanksgiving dinner who started a microfinance organization down here). We complain a lot often about all the failings of Honduras, but we are incredibly happy to be here. There is no way you can really understand how fortunate we are in the US until you live someplace like Honduras for a few months.
We hung out with this friendly baby gecko during lunch
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