Thanksgiving in Mozambique

I have enough Christmas socks to last me the month of December. And I love sending out snail mail valentines to my friends across the country. And who doesn’t love mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving? When I was little, I always used to ask for a holiday sweater. Not just a holiday sweater for Christmas, but I wanted one that had all the holidays—Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Fourth of July-- on it so I could just wear that sweater for every holiday. Yeah, I was THAT cool. Well, I never got the sweater. I don’t know if something like that even exists, but last Christmas my mom did give me a set of pins. Each one decorated for each holiday: a heart for Valentine’s Day, a turkey for Thanksgiving, Frankenstein for Halloween, a snowman for Christmas, etc. And, yes, they made it to Mozambique.

Yesterday, I proudly wore my turkey pin as I introduced the criancas at CACHES about Thanksgiving, Dia de Acao de Gracas. I did a brief lesson on Thanksgiving explaining how it was the first meal between the pilgrims (peregrinos) and Native Americans dating back to Plymouth 1621. I then explained how it is now celebrated the fourth Thursday of November by eating a large meal with family and friends. I translated some of the foods into English including turkey, potatoes, corn and stuffing. We then made turkey hats.

After, I explained to the kids how this day is an opportunity to take a step back and be thankful for all the things in our lives. We then, wrote out something we wanted to say “thank you” or “kanimambo” for. The kids generated a list including: life, family, friends, CACHES, health, security, religion, avocados and food. They each wrote out one thing they were thankful for and then painted a turkey. We used finger-paints I received in a care package. They loved it! A special thank you goes out to Donna for supplying the paints! Some of the kids hung up their pictures in the art gallery that already exists on walls of CACHES. And everyone continued to wear their turkey hats the rest of the night.

 

As for my turkey hat, I will wear it today when I go to my friends Mike and Marisa’s house to have our own Thanksgiving celebration. There are about 10 PCVs who will get together today to do some cooking and then we will travel to Guija tomorrow to celebrate with some more PCVs. Just like Thanksgiving in the states, there will be cooking, eating, drinking and lots of fun amongst our new PCV family abroad.

I want to take a moment, in thanksgiving, to say “thank you” or “kanimambo” for all of the blessings in my life. I am reminded of how fortunate I am to have the education and upbringing I had. Without this education, I wouldn’t be able to dedicate these two years of my life to the work I am doing. Thank you also to my new PCV family here in Mozambique. We may have become family by default, but over the next two years our bonds will continue to grow as we lean on each other. Thank you to Peace Corps for giving me the opportunity to embark on this adventure. And Kanimambo to CACHES, the Rural Hospital of Chicumbane and the community here in Bairro 1 of Chicumbane. Thank you for being patient, understanding and so warm throughout my first few months here. I am so excited about working and living alongside all of you for the next two years.

And while I may be thousands of miles away from my family and friends, to you, I want to say “KANIMAMBO!”  I am constantly reminded of how much you have shaped and continue to be a part of my life. While we may not be able to be together today or for the foreseeable future, I have all your emails, care packages, and messages to keep me going. Keep ‘em coming! Thank you for your endless love and support. I know I wouldn’t be here without it.

So wherever you are this Thanksgiving, take a moment to say, “Kanimambo.” And eat an extra helping of pumpkin pie for me!  J