Thanksgiving Weekend

Conclusion: Thanksgiving as we know it isn’t possible on a work day.

Nathaniel arrives home from Liberia two hours late, exhausted and bedraggled after a grueling overnight flight. Christin has an insane day at work. Word gets out that she’s hiring enumerators for a pilot study and people start showing up at her office in droves, waving C.V.s and demanding interviews on the spot. She rolls ups at 6:45 for a dinner planned at 7. I’ve home from school by mid-day but am feeling de-energized after being forced to teach grammar with no warning time to prepare or review. Not a total disaster, but I’m no Teresa Elsey.

Once home, Nathaniel crashes out for a few hours to try to drum up enough energy for dinner, so I sous chef for myself to keep busy. And I realize that beyond family and the traditional meal, it’s the shared leisure of the day – slow morning, cooking with friends, eating too many snacks so you’re already when stuffed when dinner arrives – that makes Turkey Day feel like you remember.

Eventually I roust Nathaniel out of bed to help cook and we whip up some delicious mashed potatoes and braised green beans. The frittata and sweet potatoes are passable, although the local yams are white and not as soft or sweet. Christin’s squash-carrot soup and Nathaniel’s “Big Daddy” biscuits round out the meal in a relatively satisfactory manner. And, not surprisingly, the mango-rum crumble is edible. ;)

It’s a nice meal with our one guest, Derrick [former Peace Corps volunteer who has been living in Zomba village for five years and needs friends now that he’s moved to Lilongwe], but it just doesn’t have the gravitas or the real feeling of celebration that the day achieves in the states. Ah well. Effort made. And people are already gearing up for Christmas and New Years here, so I don’t think we’ll have the same problem with the December holidays.

Luckily, Nathaniel’s got Friday off after working through the weekend in Liberia and we rally to head to the mountains. The Luwawa Forest Lodge is the perfect retreat – friendly staff, rustic atmosphere (including a fireplace to relax near and weather cool enough to enjoy doing so) and tasty food. Two night of sleeping in our cozy tent, hiking, kayaking, and reading on the khondie capture a bit of the rejuvenation we missed on Thursday. Check out pictures of the trip here!

PS. The mysterious bugs with the transparent wings were termites! Apparently if we were real Malawians, we would take off the wings and eat them.