thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came to Cambodia. Twice actually!


Round 1: On Thursday night, one of our partner organizations who run an incredible restaurant that doubles as a vocational training center, hosted an elaborate Thanksgiving feast. I dressed up and went with several friends from work, and ended up having an unexpected heart-to-heart with two lovely women I'd never met. The meal was decadent....complete with (specially imported) turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, marshmallow-ed sweet potatoes, dim lights, background music, and a side of soy sauce and bowl-o'-chili's for a little Cambodian flair. It was a beautiful thing, closing out the day of mourning with thanks-giving.  And then there was tonight....

Round 2: American Thanksgiving party for Khmer and barong (foreign) friends at the home of fellow interns here. Everyone brought a dish. I was tasked with getting 3 roasted chickens--a process which took over an hour and involved a forgotten wallet, a roadside rotisserie,  phone calls to friends for translation help, two separate trips across town with my faithful & patient moto driver, and a near meltdown on my part--but that's another story...  Dinner was amazing, with a special shout-out to the green been casserole, pumpkin pie, corn on the cob, and papaya salad!

Then there was my all time favorite: the flashback-to-second-grade craft project. Twenty people in their 20s and 30s writing down what they're thankful for on construction paper cut into turkey feathers. Here's me and my dear Khmer tutor, and our turkeys. :-)

We ended the night piled around the TV watching Elf. What FUN! I'm so thankful to be here. So thankful for new friends. So thankful to feel like I'm starting to have a community here. So thankful for family and friends at home who love me and are supporting my work and life here. Happy Thanksgiving!