Well, it all started when the Peace Corps told us we would get two 25 pound turkeys for our Thanksgiving celebration. As I think I mentioned, we do not celebrate US holidays here in Macedonia, so Thursday was a work day for us. We received our turkeys but none of our families had ovens big enough to cook them in. So we had to negotiate a deal with a local restaurant. As it ended up we had a great celebration at the restaurant. They cooke the turkeys to perfection in an outside oven used to cook bread (the only thing big enough to cook both at the same time. We had a cake, mashed potatoes, and other veggies (Macedonian style) and a band. One of the volunteers made stuffing and other families brought desserts. We had around 35-40 people at the event. It was not only Thanksgiving for us, but a thank you for all of the host families in Kratovo who have been so great taking care of us. As you will see by the picture we had a great time dancing Oro ( traditional Macedonian dance) and just being together. You don't know how important Thanksgiving is until you are away from family and friends. So, we made the best of it and enjoyed our surrogate families and other volunteers as our usual family and friends.
The sad part is we are leaving for our tow year sites next Friday (11/30) and it will be a bitter sweet departure. Many of us are ready for the next adventure but filled with anxiety and sadness for leaving our comfort zones. But, it is the challenge that brought us here and we are ready to move forward and see what we can do to spread good will and cheer within Macedonia.
So enjoy the pictures and know we all miss our families and friends and hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and really appreciate where you are and love those who make your lives special.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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| Restaurant wit my host mom, Lile |
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| Nancy and family |
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| Lurdes and family |
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| Daren and family |
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| Christi and family |
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| Patrick and family |
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| The band |
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| Cerenade |
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| My host mom, Lile |
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| Mone, my host dad - a party animal |
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| Joe and family |
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| Language lessons |
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| My host daughter, Elana |
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| One of the turkeys |
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| Jenny talking about American Thanksgiving in Macedonia |
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| Lidia and Ana, our language and cultural teachers |
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| LaKesh and family |
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| The families from Kratovo |
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| The famous cake |
Yes, it's tough sometimes to celebrate American holidays like Thanksgiving when you work or in my case when the kids are in school. The oven size is even a challenge here in Australia! Glad you are enjoying! What a beautiful country!~Amy
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