Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. As my third favorite day of the year approached, I was worried this day would bring a wave of nostalgia and sadness along with it. Surprisingly, it didn´t. Maybe it was because my day was filled with an activisty march and mass, a trip to the market, lunch with coworkers, a Skype conversation with my parents and an evening in downtown San Cristóbal with a new friend. Or maybe it was because I had been mentally steeling myself for this day since Halloween. October 31 had left me longing to be in the U.S., celebrating a holiday that began for me at the age of two, dressed as a blue crayon at my family´s old house on Rock St. I thus resolved to not feel the same anguish on a day that really should have been more anguish-filled. Whatever the reason, I quite enjoyed myself on Thanksgiving even though the day wasn´t "normal."
I did make several small tributes to the holiday. On Thursday I baked a pumpkin pie and shared it with Liliana, Gabriel, Eduardo, Rick, Jacquie, Ezra and Hillary on Friday. I also decided to make a list of things I´m thankful for this year...ironically, something I never did in the U.S. on Thanksgiving. Here are six of the things on the list.
1) My house´s boiler. Temperatures dropped to four degrees celcius last night and living in a house without heat would make showering sans warm water quite unpleasant. My shower water usually takes about 15 minutes to heat in the morning. This gives me time to putz around my room before jumping in the toasty water (which remains toasty for the duration only if I whiz through my washing). More often than not, Liliana will also stop by my room during these 15 minutes (usually announcing her presence by whispering "boo"). I really enjoy these early-morning chats.
2) Hugs. INESIN has a culture of hugging and I think being away from most of my close relations in the U.S. makes me long for connection...both emotional and physical. These warm daily hugs do my soul good.
3) MCC. Every day I remind myself how lucky I am to be able to being living in Mexico this year...even though this experience presents tough situations too. I feel even more lucky to have the support of an organization that enables people from all walks of life to live out thier dream for a more just world. I highly admire many of the MCCers I´ve met in my journey this far and feel both supported and challenged by the MCC vision and community.
4) Internet. Though I´ve complained to many of you about feeling too tied to the internet, in the end it is enabling me to keep in touch with many people who I love dearly. Though I haven´t seen any of your since August 18, the many emails I receive remind me how incredibly loved and supported I am.
5) San Cristóbal´s walkability. I love that I walk almost everywhere. Not only is it good for the environment, it gives me good thinking time, good people-watching time and some exercise too. Of course, walking has its downside. I feel like Frogger most days as I attempt not to slip on uneven sidewalks (yes, I´ve wiped out and gravely injured my pinky finger...ok, semi-gravely), weave in and out of traffic and pick up my pace as I walk under the roofs which are homes to menacing dogs. But being outside, greeting Issac, the man who monitors the comings-and-goings on my street and slowly getting to know the people I pass on my daily walk to work makes the adventure worthwhile.
6) The stars. I feel close to God when I look at the stars. I went to the Pacific coast this weekend. We stayed on a peninsula only reachable by boat and the only time I´ve seen more stars was hiking in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. As I layed in the sand inventing stories for each of the stars with three friends, two shooting stars streaked through the sky. We invited the cabaña-owner´s daughter (probaby 4 years old) to make a wish for us. She wished that one day we would all become stars in the night sky. It was a magical moment and I hope her wish comes true.
The reasons I´m thankful are uncountable. So even though my Thanksgiving wasn´t filled with turkey and sweet potatoes, the first Christmas songs or the Macy´s parade, maybe taking the time to reflect on what I´m thankful for, the big things and the little, means that I had a very "normal" Thanksgiving.
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