Not exactly a turkey and mashed potatoesOr Thanksgiving. Actually, there is no direct translation for Thanksgiving, though Lorena, a fellow PC person, valiantly attempted to use this phrase. Alas, all she got were blank stares and horizontally shaking hands (Americans shrug their shoulders when they don't understand; Azeris shake their hands horizontally, kind of like half clapping). So many of you have sent me letters and cards (extra thanks to Mrs. Lois!), and I want to reassure you all that I did indeed celebrate Thanksgiving, and no I wasn't (too) lonely. On the day of, about 15-20 Trainees got together at Lorena's house to celebrate this very American holiday. Since narrative format is so boring, I'll just summarize with witty bullet point remarks.
- Lorena's house was a mansion!
- Thanksgiving also turned out to be Linda's 60th birthday. Sorry Linda for making that information public, but it's OK; you look damn fine for 60 years old.
- We each brought our own food contribution.
- I brought a veggie platter, because I can't cook. This deserves its own paragraph.
So I first decided to bring chips and salsa, but soon realized I had no idea how to make chips, or salsa. Woops. I thus begged to change my item which turned out to be no problem. I did, however, have to go into the central city and purchase some veggies. I bartered with the friendly bazaar man for peppers, tomatoes, and olives. He was nice, but was probably the 54th person to ask me to take him to America. My response to this is always: "Inshallah (God willing!)" and a big, American smile. Works every time. Anyways, I got home and cut those bad boys up with my host mom's help (she didn't like my cutting technique. Or my arrangement patterns on the dish. Or the pace at which I was cutting. In fact, she did most of it), and voila my first party food contribution. I hope next time it will actually involve cooking something, but baby steps. Baby steps.
So that's pretty much it about Thanksgiving. I'd have preferred being home making fun of my grandparents for having voted for McCain, but alas, life is tough. Not too exciting, but it was great to spend this holiday with other Americans. Christmas will be another story…
