El Dia de Accion de Gracias

For the past month and a half my Nica 61 group was planning a get together for our Thanksgiving dinner. We called our favorite hostel in Matagalpa, La Buena Onda and made reservations for three days which included Thanksgiving day. It would be the first major holiday that we would celebrate away from our families and friends in the states. It was difficult for a while to realize that I would not be spending this day with my family back home, but my time spent with my fellow Peace Corps friends proved to be a hit!

Usually I spend Thanksgiving with my mom´s side of the family traveling to North Texas to reunite with aunts, uncles, and cousins. Everyone brings a dish to share. In the past we have had three different kinds of turkey: smoked, baked, and fried all which are delicious. Other dishes include potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing and gravy, green beans, rolls, ham, and others. I always fill my plate to the edges, scrape it clean, making sure I have room for seconds and desert! Football always follows. My family consists of big Dallas Cowboy fans. We gather around the TV and hope for the best!

I was not sure how Thanksgiving would turn out this year but I figured that if I was with friends, I would not lose any time of  "Thanks". I had bought ingredients to make banana bread in Esquipulas. My site mate's host mom helped me make the best banana bread! I hoped everyone would like it. I knew it was a favorite of mine, but being home made in a foregin country I was not sure how it would turn out. Other people bought food to make and we all pitched in to buy a Turkey which was carefully watched and prepared the night before. The morning of, volunteers filled the kitchen of the hostel (they were generous and tacked on a dollar to our nights stay for the use of their kitchen) and began cooking/preparing their food. As for me, I sat back and watched, enjoyed the outdoors, time with friends, and playing Nazi Zombies and FIFA 2014 with some friends at the local Internet Cafe.

2pm came quickly as hoped. Unfortunately I was the last to follow in line to get my food. We had everything in order and a flow to our buffet style system proved to be efficient! Oddly enough we had over cooked and over prepared enough food for everyone to have thirds believe it or not. Seconds were a must because the food was great! I was proud of everyone who pitched in to make such an incredible dinner that day! I ate and stuffed my stomach until I fell asleep. I ate enough to keep my stomach full past dinner. My group hung out together that night shooting off fireworks in the street. Until my buddy let loose of a rocket in front of the hostel in which we all ran from as it exploded within feet of us we felt welcomed. We moved the explosives and tiny fireworks to an open space where the community members watched the crazy gringos shoot Roman candles at each other.

A portion of us left the next day back to our sites. I stayed two more nights with a group of friends which turned out to be a great two nights. We ended our Thanksgiving break with stuffed bellies, peace corps stories, and new adventures.

I returned back to site with a parasite that Sunday evening. It was fun while it lasted. Thanks Mr. Squiggles the Parasite.