MY First Thanksgiving

In all of my years, I never imagined that the first Thanksgiving that I would host would be in another country. I always supposed that I would be married, living in my first house with at least one kid because it would take at least that much for me to not go home to my parents or go with Nick to his family. However, I am not married, no kids, and I hosted MY first Thanksgiving this week. In Poland. Weird.

Sarah and I had the three other American missionaries over to celebrate on Thursday. Though some of us still had to work at various points during day (Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Poland, after all), we made it work. Terri, Ashley and Natalie arrived around 10am with lots of TESCO bags in hand. They bought the food and brought it all over to cook. Sarah and I went to school, and the other three stayed here and started all of the food. So even though we were all all over the place, we made it work and ended up having a wonderful meal together! We had: chicken (they couldn't find turkey, but it was cooked like a turkey), mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, stuffing!, fruit salad, and TWO types of pie. It was so nice to celebrate the day with others who understand what it is like to be away from your family. So though I missed my family and friends SO much this week, I had a truly blessed Thanksgiving.

Also, last weekend we traveled to Bratislava to celebrate Thanksgiving with the other ELCA teacher missionaries in Slovakia. It was beyond wonderful to share time with everyone to meet some new faces. Even though we don't know each other that well, it still feels like family. Sarah and I took Kamila, a friend who we meet with to teach us Polish, to share Thanksgiving with her. She was overwhelmed by having to use English all day, but she really enjoyed it and she fit in great with the group. Everyone really loved her, as they should because she is fabulous.

My first major holiday away from home went well. I've learned that I am happy here and I do love my life. I miss my people and I want to be with them, but I'm developing relationships with people here too. I would have loved to BE home to celebrate with my family this week, but I am not ready to COME home. There's still more to do and experience here, which is good because I still have 10 more months. :)

Blessings
Colleen