El día de acción de gracias....gobble gobble

Hola Buenos Tardes,

On Thanksgiving Day, I was in the Boca Costa, which is near to the coast of Guatemala. I was at a conference put on by CEDEPCA that dealt with domestic abuse and violence against women and children. This is a newly addressed issue, meaning that years and years have gone by while women and children have suffered abuse without saying a word. There were about 30 women present. Some had heard this before and were coming for training; others were hearing that they were made in the image of God for the very first time. It was difficult to get across to some of the women that men and women are equal. The man does not need to be the head of the house, both can share the responsibility.

The tone of the conference was quite serious; however, fun was still had in spite of it all. At bedtime, I slept in a room with about 10 women. I was precariously lying on the top bunk of a rickety bunk-bed when a rather large woman just began laughing. No one had said anything to instigate this, mind you. But she just couldn’t stop! It was a good hearty laugh from the belly. This went on for a good 45 minutes. Everyone was trying to sleep and yelling “Cállase!” while trying to keep themselves from joining in the giggle fit. Meanwhile, a strong-minded older lady decided to take matters into her own hands and began singing lullabies to the uncontrollable giggler. But, that only made matters worse. Eventually I fell asleep to the sound of laughter, singing, and two ladies below my bunk gabbing in Mam, a mayan language. I had woken up at 4am that morning so I was too tired to worry about the biting, tailless lizards my friend Allie told me about. Soon the laughing lady fell asleep as well, and her laughter turned into a loud bear-like snore. And at about a quarter to five, I was awoken again by the two ladies gabbing in Mam. In the morning, a little bit homesick for Thanksgiving, my two friends and I decided to utilize the swimming pool. We didn’t bring bathing suits, so we just went in our pajamas. As we made our way down the path to the pool, we were literally chased by a barking, very mean dog. Our hearts were beating fast, but as soon as we jumped in and felt the water fill our jamies, all was well again. I think we could all say that we had never gone swimming outside on Thanksgiving before. And though it was fun, I think I would have preferred the turkey and potatoes with my family.

I returned home Friday afternoon, later than I had intended because the shuttle is an unreliable mode of transportation sometimes. I had planned on cooking a Thanksgiving Dinner for my family on Saturday, and wanted to get started. We had purchased a turkey before I left and my host mom was going to wait to do the deed until I returned. So, as soon as I got home, I ran to the market and supermarket to pick up the rest of the items I needed, or so I thought, and rushed back to the house. My host mom had bought some whiskey to numb the pain of the turkey. And I thought that quite a nice gesture. As we walked out the door she told me to grab some cups, so I did. We walked down the street and met the in-laws at the home of the turkey. It was still quite a young turkey, maybe young adult age. Possibly still a teenager, however. My host grandpa poured some whiskey down its throat and it immediately relaxed. Then he poured some into four glasses and told us to “tomalo” or “drink up.” Knowing that I had a lot to do that day, I reluctantly gulped mine down. And wow am I glad I did because before I knew it the head was chopped, and the body of the turkey was spinning around squirting blood all over the place. It was like watching spin art Kill Bill style. My host grandma and I ducked into a traditional sauna and laughed at the absurdity of it all. We stuck the bird into the bag and brought him back home, hung him upside down on the clothes line, and went back to work.

My friend Ingrid came over to help me make the pumpkin pies. There were no pumpkins at the market so we used wicois, which are a more popular form of squash here. Ingrid proved to be a great helper when I almost put pepper in the pie mix instead of cloves. That would have been a disaster that may have sent me into an exasperated state. Just earlier that day the oven was fixed, so I really was taking my chances by putting my precious homemade pies in there. But I did; all three of them. I put two on the top and one on the bottom. And the one on the bottom was next to the pilot light and burned to a crisp. But, hey, I still had two! Meanwhile my host mom and grandma were plucking the turkey beside me.

The next day, after making hand-traced turkeys with my little sisters, I found out that more people were coming to my dinner than I had originally planned for. So, I got really nervous and went and bought more of everything. We had broccoli, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and wassail. It was a true Thanksgiving Dinner. We also had homemade tomato sauce, chili sauce, and tortillas, just to make sure everyone had something they liked to eat. I felt like a real chef telling all that came to help what to do, while feeling anxious that I actually didn’t know what to do. I had never done this by myself before, let a lone with Guatemalan versions of the ingredients. Many a phone call were made home to mom that day. Guests arrived, champagne was drunk, thanks was given (we went around the table saying what we were thankful for), food was served, explanation was explained, and silence overtook the table. I am not really sure what they thought about the food, but I was quite impressed with myself because it tasted just like it was supposed to. Most of the plates were cleaned; some had leftovers, but whether they liked to the food or not was secondary to the experience. I served 17 in all. And there was nothing leftover. It was exactly the right amount of food! Everyone left about 2 hours after the event began. That was about 15 or so hours of work for a 2 hour event. But I think it was worth it. However, the next morning, most of my family was a little sick. I don’t know about the other guests, but I imagine it was an epidemic due to some ingredient that wasn’t cooked well enough.

Oh well, until next Thanksgiving…

Top 5

1. I am feeling more comfortable in my home here and with my family. I am glad because Christmas is just around the corner!
2. I love going to conferences here. Even if they are really boring sometimes, I love hearing what people have to say and who is there to say it. Very interesting.
3. We are going to put up a Christmas tree! This will be the first time for my family. I am happy that this decision was made. I think it will help me to feel a little less homesick at Christmas this year. Though I know it won’t eliminate those inevitable feelings.
4. I bought five candles and put them in my room to light through the advent season. It really feels good to have that quiet time to myself to reflect and pray.
5. My parents and Drew have bought their tickets to come see me! March and April are going to be busy months, but very happy ones too.
   

Bottom 4

1. Being away from home for Thanksgiving, although it is only one Thanksgiving out of many.
2. Being away from home for Christmas season, although it is only one Christmas out of many.
3. Those first two are big ones and deserve to be worth more than one Gripe.
4. There is a chance I may not start teaching until February now! That is my half-way point. But, I am going to begin an English course for parents soon.

I have pictures but my uploader thingy won't work! They'll come soon. I don't want to deny you all the opportunity to meet my turkey!