Thanksgiving

I hope that all my friends and family were able to have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!! It has not really felt much like the fall or November here so definetly did not feel like Thanksgiving when I woke up on Thursday but I ended up having a really great day. The group of trainees rallied together and organized an amazing and fairly authentic meal. Classes ended early so we had time to shop, cook, and relax a bit. A friend and I were put in charge of making the stuffing and were pretty proud of our results. It tasted just like home to me even though we used a stove and couldnt find celery at the market!

We met the chief of Ouahigouya when we first arrived here and he gave us a sheep that we fondly named Turkey. He was fattened up over the last month and slaughtered for our enjoyment. The big meat eaters in our group were worried about not having a real turkey since we heard the birds you get here are super expensive and not very tasty. The ambassador came to our rescue though and donated a real, Butterball turkey. It sounds like a big order had been shipped over for embassy staff and she was kind enough to share one with us. She also gave us several pumpkin pies and canned cranberries. I didnt think I would ever be able to have my favorite Thanksgiving side right out of the can but it happened even in the middle of Burkina Faso!!!

Other amazing side dishes included mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, deviled eggs, bread, green beans, a pumpking/sweet potato dish with oatmeal topping and more that I cant remember. Its sad but two of my favorite things that we had arent even traditional--brownies and M and Ms. One of the PC staff members donated brownie mix and somebody else gave the M and Ms. They were so good and reminders of home!! I guess I have a little bit of a chocolate addiction! I ate way too much food but kept shoveling it in. It was definetly the most satisfying meal I have had in the last six weeks and probably the best tasting Thanksgiving meal ever just because I hadnt had any home-cooked American food since I left. My mom did cook a Thanksgiving meal in August since I would be missing out so I had all the good stuff once this year already. There was something about the teamwork and coming together while in Burkina that made ours so delicious and special!!

No big shopping for me yesterday since we had class but I did hit up the market today and bought pagnes--crazy African print fabric. I am going to get a fantastic outfit made for our swearing in ceremony in three weeks. Training is now coming to a close with two more weeks at our host families followed by ten days in Ouahigouya before moving to our sites. I guess that means Christmas is coming soon as well. I think no Christmas trees or mistletoe this year but hopefully we will be able to pull together another special celebration before moving in separate directions throughout Burkina!