Thanksgiving 2011

This year was my second year away from home for Thanksgiving. Last year, I have fond memories of eating chicken by headlamp after a regional meeting at the office in Sembabule. This year, my Thanksgiving was a little closer to an American Thanksgiving. Teresa and I started off the day by trying to bake a coffee cake in the oven at home. We finally figured out that our stove IS gas and needs to be lit. By rolling up a piece of paper and lighting it, we were able to avoid scorching any phalanges, eyebrows, hair, and limbs. After our little bake-off (which consisted of Teresa doing all the work and me watching like a small child), we went to an American colleague’s house. She works for CDC and is an official hire, so she lives on an official American compound. It’s a NICE place. She has a 3 bedroom (at least 2 bath) house. We got there to help set up for Thanksgiving and cook a little. Teresa went up to our colleague’s neighbor’s place; she baked a coffee cake and made mashed potatoes. I helped to set up the room for the Thanksgiving party and helped with the rolls. Around 4, people started arriving. We had an awesome dinner with turkey, gravy, ham, salads, dinner rolls, stuffing, and so much more. The desserts were equally as impressive: red velvet cake!!! Pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, lemon torte, coffee cake, and a few more things that I can’t remember.

After we finished eating, Teresa and I went to ANOTHER Thanksgiving party at our mentor’s house. He lives in a different American compound has a big place too. I was so stuffed by the time we reached his place. I barely ate anything else. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out with our mentor, the CDC country director, his brother, the Nigeria CDC director, and a few other Americans. It was a great day!