Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Preparing for Thanksgiving

While the rest of my world here in Nairobi carries on with life, end of term at Daystar and nearing the end of the month, so fewer cars on the roads (til payday when folks can afford to put petrol back in the tanks) etc, etc. I have been thinking about Thanksgiving.

At first I had no plans for this day which is obviously not celebrated by the Kenyan population. But I warmed to the idea of making a turkey for some American friends and a few non-American ones. A week and a half ago I ordered a turkey from a butcher that a friend told me about. I told the woman at the counter I needed a 7 or 8 kilo turkey. (That's like 16-18 lbs of turkey.) The butcher assured me it would be there on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

Of course, I misplaced her number so I just went over to get it this morning. The smallest one she had was 12 kilos! I didn't think it would fit in my smallish fridge or my tiny oven. Not to mention I didn't even have enough money with me to get that much turkey.

I called a friend to get the number of another butcher, sure enough that butcher had an 8.25 kilo turkey on hand. I ran straight over to get it.

This afternoon I bid goodbye to my coworker and she asked, "Won't I see you tomorrow?" I reminded her I was cooking a turkey and no she wouldn't see me. (We had a long conversation about turkeys in the morning.)

I walked outside and caught the smell of someone barbecuing meat. I though immediately of my dad roasting a turkey on the grill a few times for a few Thanksgivings. Doubtless I will think of my family members all day tomorrow as I peal potatoes and role out pie crusts.

Last Thanksgiving was the last time all my siblings were together. And the last time that will ever happen as my sister, Lee passed away in May this year. This is definitely that holiday that begs for family in me.

I'll try to post a picture of the gang I have this year at my house.

1 comment:

Grace-n-Glory said...

Hope you had a good day with your friends. I'm sure your food turned out yummy as always! Glad the turkey situation got resolved! Whew!

Praying for you as you miss being "home" for the holidays this year. It'll be the first one you've missed in a long while I think? Anyway, May the Lord bless you with His presence and steadfast Love! Grace to you!