It is Thanksgiving Day and I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I will walk around all day in shorts and sandals and still probably sweat an abnormal amount. The trees are green, there is no nip in the air, people aren’t wearing scarves. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving. It doesn’t feel like Christmas is around the corner, but it is.
This is my first Thanksgiving to spend away from my family. If I linger on that thought too long I get a little sad. No snitching scraps of turkey as its being cut, no listening to the annual debate on whether or not the stuffing has enough….I forgot that one spice that is put in that the aunts “discuss” whether or not there is enough in it….Anyway, if I was back home I would be hanging at my grandparents house with a fire behind my back, football on the tv, brown trees outside (we get some leaf changing in Texas, but mostly it’s just green to brown), and delicious smells all around. But, I’m in Haiti and, despite how sad I am to miss the family celebrations, I am so happy to be right where I am.
Most of the QCS crew is 5 hours away at Port Salut, but I am here in PAP because two of my best friends in the world came to visit! Larissa and Roseana arrived yesterday and brought Christmas with them. Seriously, they brought Christmas to Haiti. After we arrived back at my apartment and they had eaten a bit of lunch, they eagerly asked if they could give me presents….presents? I had asked them to bring a new set of sheets, a couple of towels and a pillow with them, but those aren’t exactly presents. (I won’t lie, I was WAY too excited about having another pillow. They cost about $20 here so the $2.50 walmart pillow was going to be awesome!)
After they had pulled out the items I had asked them to bring, they began throwing, literally, throwing things at me. Clothes that I had left back home that I wanted, but not enough to ask them to dig in my boxes for them, toiletries I had purchased before but were too heavy to bring on my initial trip, books, movies, my shoes, Peanut Butter M&Ms, frosted animal crackers, and, best of all…..A CHRISTMAS TREE! Yes, my friends brought a friggin’ Christmas tree to Haiti! See, I am a Christmas nut! They brought me a 3 foot, pre-lit tree, an extra string of lights, a tree topper, garland, and ornaments! After dinner last night we put the tree and lights up. So nice to see that soft glow in the apartment. It will go great with the holiday candle and Christmas music they brought as well! I am thankful my friends brought Christmas to Haiti (along with themselves)!
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