The blog title really explains everything, but for anyone who might want a few more details or thoughts, here they are.
Shelbi and I are spending our last night together in our current host family's home by cooking (well, Shelbi is cooking) and listening to a variety of Christmas music. Shelbi is cooking up a storm, because tomorrow we are heading down to Balti where we will celebrate Thanksgiving with a few other volunteers. We made sausage balls earlier this week and will get up tomorrow morning to cook them and jump in a rutiera. Tonight Shelbi is making a cheesecake (my favorite with apples and cinnamon) and more corn casserole. She is making two corn casseroles and we've been eating on one for the last few days. Delicious!!
Today at school Shelbi brought her students some muffins, so after they were done with work, they ate muffins and talked a bit while Shelbi put on some Christmas music for them. Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-siberian Orchestra really help put Shelbi into the Christmas mood, so that's what they listened to.
Yesterday before our English club, I ran home and ate a quick bite with our host dad. Shelbi was at the store purchasing some minutes for her phone, but I was strapped for time, and we hadn't made plans to eat a big meal together. When Shelbi returned, she was upset that I had eaten without her, and we both realized what it meant to be away from family on Thanksgiving. We both felt very strange on this Thanksgiving, but we ate some corn casserole together quickly and tried to finish planning our English club meeting.
Shelbi and I were thinking of how to communicate the ideas of Thanksgiving and teach the students something. We finally decided to bring some food, plates, cups, drinks, and forks and give them a little meal to help them practice table manners and food items. It was a simple meal, but we managed to bring some gustos (tasty) corn casserole, multi-fruit juice, cookies, and salami. We told the students about American Thanksgiving traditions and showed them some simple pictures and videos about Thanksgiving. We then taught some vocabulary and expressions and concluded with enjoying a meal (more like a snack) together. Our salami substituted for a corcan (turkey) and the kids all thought that was pretty funny. What seems a cliche activity in the U.S. was the highlight of the event: the students all said (practicing English) what they were thankful for. Many said parents, God, friends, and some said they were thankful that we came to spend time with them. Shelbi suggested after we clean up that we all go on a walk. The students were surprisingly enthusiastic about the idea, so we did. We walked around the park talking about traditions and swappin' culture.
Amid a hurricane of emotions about purpose, not being close to family, meaning of service, God's plans, what to be thankful for, moving away from our hosts, and many other ideas, these students simply accept us and seem to enjoy learning about who we are and how we lived in America. They have made us feel welcome and accepted time and again, and our Thanksgiving was no exception. Even without a turkey, Thanksgiving in Moldova was great, because we had people to connect with.
I'd love to upload some pictures, but the website claims we've max-ed out our storage. I'll try to find a solution for that issue.
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