Happy Thanksgiving all! While it is always very difficult not to be at home for Thanksgiving, with the best family ever, Honduran Thanksgiving proved to be top notch as well.
We celebrated Thanksgiving in school too. Made turkey hands, talked about what we were thankful for, and they wanted to wish y'all a Happy Thanksgiving too!
We began our Thanksgiving celebration with a Wed. evening house dinner of pumpkin pesto pasta sent to us in a care package by Jess' wonderful mother.
On Thursday, a group of us went to a high-quality establishment by the name of AutoPollo. Have no fear, this does not mean automatic chicken. It simply gets its name because a. its on the highway and b. it's a restaurant and car wash. We chose to spend T-giving here because they have rotisserie style chicken. You basically have three order options: 1/4, 1/2, or whole chicken. Then they go get your chicken and roast it over a fire for you and serve it with some slaw and sauce and tortillas. It made for a good Thanksgiving adventure and it was nice to be in the company of community.
The real Thanksgiving was on Saturday. Padre Ricardo went to Teguc to import 2 turkeys for us. I got the pleasure of making one of the turkeys, ahhhhh....I love cooking and especially cooking turkey. I spent all day Saturday rocking out in the kitchen. I made dinner rolls, stuffing, and of course the turkey. It was great!
Then we all went over to the university where Padre had appetizers and drinks and we feasted. We feasted like no other. Especially after eating simply for so long, it was a whole lot of food, but it was nothing short of amazing. I am so impressed with all of our hard work and effort because we truly made Thanksgiving happen in Juti. We had: 2 turkeys, gravy, cranberries, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, roasted veggies, roasted broccoli, creamed corn, cooked carrots, green beans, dinner rolls, roasted squash, pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple tart, and chocolate pumpkin bread. HOLY COW! So delicious. Apart for the food, it was wonderful quality time at the kids table with friends.
Reflecting on the true meaning of Thanksgiving (beyond the food) I truly have so much to be thankful for and grateful for here in Honduras:
- 48 beautiful, energetic, and loving students
- a fantastic team of first grade teachers that supports me unconditonally
- a community of volunteers to grow, laugh, and love with
- the BEST family that is always there for me, loving me, and skyping me in the middle of Wii dance
- the BEST friends that remember to check-in with me, catch up with me, pray for me, guide me, learn with me, make me laugh, and so much more
- the opportunity to wake up to a brilliantly shining sun and the puffiest clouds (Honduras truly has the best sky)
- learning to live in flexibility
- living simply
- God and His constant presence in my life
- my safety
- my home
- my health
- carefree timelessness
- spontaneity
- the opportunity to learn and grow
- discovering God's presence around me
- the chance to just be and listen
- learning more and more each day about my vocation as a teacher
- being able to teach
- Sarah time
- baleadas, tajadas, cooking
- love, support, prayers, and kindness from the Hondurans, community, and back home.
So much to be thankful for, I am truly blessed!
WOW - amazing dinner! What fun for all of you!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving! I love your list of everything that you are thankful for as it is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routines/stresses that we overlook the many blessings that are bestowed upon us each and every day by a loving God.
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