I can’t imagine a much more memorable Thanksgiving. For several of us, today was our first Thanksgiving in Ecuador. For several more, it was the first Thanksgiving they’d ever celebrated. We had people from (at least) the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Japan and Peru, speaking (at least) English, Spanish, French and Japanese. In fact, three of those countries and all four of those languages were represented at our table alone.
Somewhere around fifty of us got together on Laura and Jorge’s roof to celebrate as traditionally as possible. There was the traditional turkey and gravy and potatoes and cranberry everything and salads. There were also tropical fruits and Marlo’s pesto dip and sushi. The kids all played in the rooftop hot tub and we listened to Andean music interspersed with country and the Black-Eyed Peas.
I have to say it was cool to celebrate such a holiday estadounidense so cross-culturally. I’m also glad we escaped those “let’s go around the table…” exercises that I really should appreciate but just tend to seem cheesy to me. I do, however, have tons of things to be thankful for. The most obvious to me today was the people in my life. There were people there today from so many different backgrounds, and even among the gringos at Youth World, we have different traditions and cultures from different parts of the United States (and elsewhere). I love learning from people, from their backgrounds and perspectives and individual knowledge and stories. I can think of so many people who blow me away constantly with things they’ve done or scripture they know or the ways they practically apply their experience in missions. I love having people to laugh with, people to share ridiculous moments with, people who think sushi on Thanksgiving should continue to be a tradition, people to learn from and grow with, people who love God, and people who are just as eager to teach with their experience as they are to learn with their lives.
I certainly missed my family today. I missed my brother’s goofy (but sincere) prayers, my dad’s laugh, and my mom’s insight (and potato salad… and gravy… and apple pie…). But I got to see several people who I’ve not run into in a long time, including several friends who have been out of Quito, and my friend John Andrew who I met at IT training in Illinois and who has been working in Guayaquil since this summer. And not that my friends here in any way replace the people with whom I’m used to spending Thanksgiving, but I was glad to be surrounded by so many awesome people and to have a chance to spend the day in such a unique way and be able to share that.
