A Philippean Thanksgiving

Well, we've done it. We survived our first holiday away from home. And a birthday to boot. Thursday, Turkey day, dawned hot and humid for us. We spent the day as usual, at school, at home, sweating. We read post after post on facebook concerning snow, while looking at palm trees. A bit surreal, but not bad. My main desire was for some turkey. And, to see the family traditions. The one was a little too far out of reach, but we found turkey. A European restaurant, run by Filipinos, served up an over priced Thanksgiving dinner. We waited all day with baited breath for our 7 o'clock reservation.

I have to admit, it was pretty dang swanky. Keven Todd's name was on the table, they unfolded our cloth napkins and lit candles as we were seated. Pretty intense. And far from the usual "china" also known as "chinette" and plastic silverwear. I felt like royalty. The dinner was a good try. The turkey was in fact fantastic...even without jellied cranberry sauce. And they had stuffing, but it had some form of ham in it...unexpected...it was also formed into a log and cut. But once you picked the ham out it wasn't bad. There were olives, but I'm fairly certain they had to refill the dish 10 times for us throughout the evening. That is about where the similarities stopped. They served mashed carrot-potatoes, yes, they were odd. They also had tuna puffs, spring rolls and fresh fruit. Instead of rolls, there was bread. There was roast beef, also tasty, and fried sweet potato chip things. They served pasta, and not the frogeye kind. They also had soup, and while I was reading the lable one of the 15 attendants offered to dish me up some "Pumpkin Orange Soup". How do you say no to that? So, he dished it. Then he waited for me to finish loading my plate and walked my soup to the table. Awkward.

Dessert, by far the best part of Thanksgiving was odd. They must not be American, because no American eats a 2x2 bite of apple pie and calls it good. Come on people! They also had a 1x1 square of mango cake, good in thought, bad in it's flavor resemblance to pine sol. So we loaded up on the fabulous turkey and took full advantage of the fresh fruit (best pineapple I've ever had) and ate our fill. Not quite as full as the "I can't walk" feeling that usually takes over our bodies on that blessed Thursday, but it was good.

Keven Todd bought us cheesecake, a great substitute for pie. And we headed home. It wasn't like home, but it was a great blessing to have somewhere to go. It would've broken my heart to let one of my 2 favorite holidays pass without my proper recognition.

That night I was filled with a deep sense of gratitude for a few things.
#1. Skype...which made it possible to hear my beloved Grandma recite her annual Thanksgiving poem.
#2. A brother that tried his best to make up for all we were missing.
#3. A family back home that have such unchanging traditions, that as I layed and bed and closed my eyes, I could see and feel every detail. I could even hear the cranberry sauce slurp.
#4. Cult traditions...and cameras, and cousins who made them accesible for me.
#5. Running water, even if it's too dirty to drink. We were without it for 2 and 1/2 days, that sucked.
#6. Little hugs, they make everything in the world seem right.
#7. Peace and faith.
#8. For my mom and sisters...I may be far away, but your spirits are always in my heart.
#9. Email. It makes the world a much smaller place.
#10. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life, and there's no way I'd be strong enough to do it without the support of my Father in Heaven, and the courage I find through the Atonement.