26 November 2006

Thankful days

Thanksgiving was a big potluck affair with about 40 or so missionaries and their families. It was held at the international school lunchroom. Some people went to a lot of effort to decorate the tables in Thanksgiving festiveness. The food was traditional thanksgiving and very tasty. Much of it is hard to find here. Hard to find: sweet potatoes, whole turkey, crunchy onions for the top of green bean casserole. Non existent: cranberries, canned pumpkin, marshmellows. So a lot of imported food got eaten!

The most homesick I have ever felt was my first Thanksgiving away...in Belgium when I was 25 years old. That was a hard one. I'm glad I tried to get excited about what IS happening here rather than simply longing for what I cannot have.

Friday we had a All Spain meeting. A bit like a church board meeting but some details actually affect us personally. It was our first and interesting though lengthy. The group seems pretty amenable to one another and kept things positive. I felt good to be a part of it.

Things I'm thankful for at this season:
That we are more stable in life than a year ago.
That I didn't suffer from homesickness this holiday.
That I have ways, like this, that are affordable to keep up with friends.
That we got a dog this year.
That we have a really nice home here and our comfortable things around us.
That I can make myself understood here and generally I can understand the answers. This makes life so much less scary.
That we have a Spanish "church home" and a US one too.
That I have people in my life who sincerely care about me.
That our budget has held up and we're making it despite the dollar.
That we're coming home for Christmas.

I could go on....Give me one thing you're thankful for in comments!

11 comments:

  1. It would be strange to not have a whole turkey available for Thanksgiving. Apparently to some (Dash and T) that's not as big a deal.

    The thing that I am most thankful for this year is that NJ is a healthy and happy baby. Golden and I were both concerned that he would have a lot of the same problems we do, but so far he is about the most normal baby around.

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  2. Sorry I had my comments on moderation. Hopefully it's all straightened out now.

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  3. Anonymous11:37 AM

    I'm thankful for ham! :)

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  4. Anonymous11:39 AM

    Sorry that last comment actually came from Sam the turkey. (Let their voices be heard! :))

    I'm thankful for the awesome weekend we had. We weren't blessed with visiting family for the holidays, but we were blessed with a great weekend with the kids.

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  5. You guys are actually coming home for X-mas? That's good to hear even though I won't be there

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  6. How long are you going to be out here? We're going to be visiting family during most of the holiday time.

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  7. I am thankful for Dust and NJ and our great blogging friends! God is good.

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  8. We will be home late the 13th, get a hold of us early if your leaving.

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  9. If noone else has invited you yet .. you are (of course) welcome to attend the loves command Party on 16th. It's looking like a retro Christian Music / Mexican night.

    ...with White Elephants - of course!!!

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  10. Anonymous3:12 PM

    I invited her already! :) HA!

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