Thanksgiving: Guyana Style Take 2

This year was our second Thanksgiving in Guyana. Both years we have been fortunate enough to celebrate with family and friends. Last year Sara's family was visiting Guyana and this year we had my mom and brother to share the fun. Along with our biological family, we had our Peace Corps Volunteer 'family' and our Guyanese 'family' joining the festivities.

Since we don't have an oven everything was cooked either on a stove top or in our steel drum BBQ. And, like last year, everything was delicious! We had all the traditional American feast items; turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, veggies, wine, and pumpkin pie. Added to that was some extra chicken, Tka's spicy macaroni, Guyanese rum and snacks, Princess's spice cake with cream cheese frosting and Sara's wheat-free rice dish (made with love for my bro).

We decorated the Thanksgiving Tree with post-its of what we are thankful for, cooked, gaffed, ate food and laughed until the wee hours of the morning. We are truly blessed and so endlessly grateful for our family, friends and friends that have become family. Our life is rich and full of love and we give our thanks for our blessings everyday (but especially on a day like Thanksgiving)!

The next morning, Mom and Bup headed off to Barbados to wrap up their vacation before heading back to the USA. I was sad to see them go (and had a very, very scary anxiety dream about them leaving when I took a nap later that day) but I remember all the fun times we shared together in Guyana and in the end, I can only be grateful for the fact that they were able to visit us at all.

Spending time away from our family and then getting the treat of a visit from a few of our beloved ones has made Tim and I realize how important family is to us. We are determined to make family a priority in our life when we get back to America. We plan to live within driving distance of both of our sides of the family and spend more quality time with everyone. I especially look forward to living near my bro, who is so much fun to hang out with. I love how he gets along with Tim and my friends and I feel like we can enjoy each others company on a deeper level than we have done in the past. I look forward to the not-so-distant future where family interactions are a part of daily life, not just a treat on holidays.

My "oven"

The Thanksgiving Tree

PCV Princess, neighbors Lisa and Baby Nathan and I having a fun evening!

Tim and PCV Mark shucking corn for BBQ corn on the cob! Yum!