November 26, 2009

• Looking back……

  I found this post this morning from my blog last year and it made me smile.  I felt the words were just as appropriete this year as they were last year……….

  Thursday, 20 November 2008

  Giving Thanks and Turkeys……

  This will be my third Thanksgiving in Botswana.  I am a huge Thanksgiving person……it’s almost as important to me as Christmas.  I think the main reason is that it’s about the one tradition that has stayed the same in my family since I can remember. While family members have passed on, or been added it’s the familiar that makes me thankful.  It’s that familiar that I crave during this time of year…….my Uncle David’s fried turkey, my mom’s broccoli and cheese casserole and pistachio salad, my Aunt Bernita’s stuffing, and my Aunt Dorthy’s Carmel Brownies (if you don’t grab one or two right away, you loose out……she could make five batches and they would all be gone!).  While “craving” usually means food…..and I’ve done my fair share of listing those things, I also crave my family.  To just sit among them and soak it all in. To hear my Uncle Jack’s voice, my Uncle Bob’s silly laugh, or to just fall into a deep embrace of my Aunt Melodee…..those are all things I treasure (as crazy as a Cameron Thanksgiving can be at times! ) and things that I miss the most this time of year. It’s in these moments though that I am truly thankful.  Thankful that I have the memories of all of this, memories that I can wrap around me like a warm blanket or like a hug from home.

  On the flip side though, I am also grateful for my “family” here.  While we often times get a bit glum this time of year, my Thanksgivings here have always been filled with just as much food and fun as they are in the US!  You can get pretty darn creative when it comes to making sure that your favorite Thanksgiving dishes are around the table.  While the sweet potatoes might not be “orange” like they are in the US, or the green bean casserole doesn’t have those crunchy onion things on top…….we still manage to have something similar.  I have three big cans of pumpkin my my cabenet just waiting to be used for a pumpkin pie that I’ll most likely have to make a hand made crust for….no ready made pie crusts here!  But the funny thing is the main dish…..the turkey!!

  While grocery stores in America are probably boasting about their prices or showcasing their birds, we here in Botswana have to get a bit creative.  Turkey, as you can imagine isn’t exactly a preferred meat around these parts.  (It’s like a holiday ham……and for the record, I have never seen a ham,(other than yucky lunch meat ) in this country……this is totally fine with me as you can ask my mother, I am not a fan of the “damn ham”. )  Botswana boasts BEEF BEEF and more BEEF (and an occasional chicken here and there! )  Thankfully a local butcher and friend in town can get their hands on some turks for us…….please note that I said Turks Plural!!  I went shopping for the birds today.  While you might be picking out a plump 15lb bird, I on the other hand am having to pick out a few birds to make our holiday feast.  Turkey’s here are SMALL……think a roasted chicken and double it….that’s about our turkeys!  I bought three turkeys today…..all at just over 7lbs each.  I bought one for our family so I could cook it in December (Kev and I love our turkey!) and it weighed the same as Andrew did when he was born….3.1kg……7lbs on the nose!  So trust me when I say……be thankful for your plump Turkeys!!!

  ****This year I found almost 9lb turkeys and my bird is already in the oven!  I am longing to be with my family today, but once again I am still with family!  I am thankful that I have my little family of 4 here with me, but also thankful that I have my mission family to celebrate with too!   My heart is thankful today……..

  Happy Thanksgiving from Botswana! 

  • 2:12 am
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