Thanksgiving

It (was) Thanksgiving, which means it’s time for a list of things I’m thankful for! I don’t want this to be an I-traveled-to-a-third-world-country-and-now-I-have-so-much-more-perspective-than-you list, and I don’t want it to be a list of things I miss from home – just a list of things in my life that I appreciate right now.

I am thankful for, in no particular order:
- Family
- Friends
- Having this opportunity to travel to Uganda and Rwanda
- Electricity
- Flushing toilets
- The Internet
- Commonwealth
- The circumstances I was born into
- Warm socks
- Feel-good movies
- People who hold me to high standards
- Independence
- Having the means and opportunity to work towards my goals, whatever they may be
- Ice cream
- All other Western food (if I list everything I miss it will take forever)
- People who can see past appearances
- Intelligent humor
- The idea that all people are equal
- Late afternoon sunlight
- My camera
- Being able to help other people
- Rainboots
- Skating
- Good laughter
- Interesting classes with good professors
- Alone time
- Being able to make decisions
- Café’s
- Good literature
- Baking
- Stephen Fry
- Nerdfighters
- Art
- Honesty
- Kindness
- Washing machines
- Stars
- Being able to drink water straight from the hose on a hot summer day
- Being able to communicate in French
- The opportunity to meet and learn from many different people
- Grocery stores and libraries that are open 24/7
- Blue Pilot Precise V7 Fine-tip pens (seriously, I came with a box of fifteen, and I’ve used all but two completely up)
- Boston
- New York City
- Ideas that are so cool and brilliant that they blow your mind
- The invention of the blog


It’s a bit strange that I’m “celebrating” Thanksgiving here in Uganda. Thanksgiving has never been a big deal for our family, but it started to make a lot more sense as a holiday when I went to college – a chance to come home and eat a home-cooked meal actually did seem like something to celebrate. Plus the Commonwealth Thanksgiving assembly/reunion of recently-graduated students is always such a highlight. Last year was especially great, when Britt came home with me and we went over to the Cash’s for Thanksgiving dinner. I’m really genuinely sad to be missing Thanksgiving.

Part of what’s so strange is that I’ve totally lost track of time in terms of what I would normally be doing right now in the US. Earlier it was a lot easier to imagine those beautiful crisp fall days with clear blue skies and brilliant foliage, going for runs down Riverside Drive, the start of school, going downtown to the Halloween parade… I could imagine early fall, but I’m really having a hard time grasping the fact that it will be winter when I get back – that I’ll be plunging into the Christmas season and will need to wear winter clothes. Thanksgiving is a bit of a reminder of the fact that it is getting colder by the day back home: something I don’t miss.

Tonight they opened the new canteen on base camp, and it’s so bizarre and out of place. It reminds me of a pool-side café at a hotel, only without the pool. In honor of the canteen opening, there’s a big party tonight, with big speeches thanking the various aid organizations that contributed to building the canteen – which will be primarily used by their employees. Now they’re playing a mix of Ugandan and American music (earlier they were playing Celine Dion and slow Michael Jackson songs – a clear sign that no one had come yet. Why do people always play slow Michael Jackson songs at the start of dances and stuff when no one’s there??). Anyways, the canteen really changes the vibe of being here.