Dando gracias

Okay. It's Thanksgiving. I am not really doing much to celebrate it here. I did explain, somewhat inarticulately, to my host family what this holiday is all about. My host mom thought this was our Christmas and seemed surprised when I told her we celebrate that as well. I said something about pilgrims and Native Americans and sharing food and being thankful for not dying.They looked at me like I was kind of crazy, but it made sense to me.

So, I have a lot to be thankful for, something I've been pondering with Thanksgiving looming (like everyone else, I'm sure). I'll keep a running list up here throughout the day.

1. I am thankful for my family. My mom and dad and sisters have always supported me and my crazy treks around the world. I know my mom worries about me constantly and I feel bad for causing her grief, but she knows this is what I love so she's okay with it. And my dad worries as well but not quite as much as mom. And I don't like that they worry, but it shows that they care.
I am also fortunate enough to have a great family here in Guatemala. They have helped me a lot over the past few days in moving all of my stuff from my house up the mountain to their house down in the center of town. My host mom braved the spiders and dust and helped me tidy things up and asked her cousin to help us bring the bigger things down the hill in his pickup truck. This whole ordeal would have been a lot worse if it weren't for them.

2. I am thankful for my friends. My friends have made life more entertaining and more bearable and are always there for me. I haven't had to unload too much drama on them because my life is fairly drama-free, but I know they would be there. I am also fortunate to count on friends who are so engaged in the world and in helping people and who inspire me to be the same.

3. I am thankful for my health. I have always been healthy and this has made my life immensely better, especially travelling in parts of the world where having a weak stomach leads to weeks of intestinal issues. Especially seeing what my host family has gone through this year with diabetes, hydrocephalus and heart problems, I feel very blessed to count myself in good health.

4. I am thankful for my faith. This has also helped me immensely here in Guatemala. I honestly feel as if God is looking out for me and I can tell that he has been answering my prayers. Surrounded by so much poverty and so many difficulties in life while finding that people remain faithful, this has been inspiring to me. Some people might think this is a little crazy, but my faith is stronger than ever. This is due in part to some of the volunteers I have been fortunate to live near and the church here in my neck of the woods that is fantastic, for which I am also thankful.

5. I am thankful to be doing something I love. I'm not getting paid, so it's all the better that I love my job. How many people can say they would gladly work in a super frustrating and thankless job for two years without getting paid? It works so well for me because I love what I do. I love working with the kids and teachers, visiting schools, talking about health issues, giving workshops, helping out with projects, coordinating with NGOs, helping other volunteers with camps or youth group activities, sharing cultural activities, etc. I joined Peace Corps not really knowing what I was getting into, dreading possibly teaching English or working with teens rather than kids, and when I found myself working here in Guatemala with Healthy Schools, I can truly say everything exceeded my expectations.

6. I am thankful for having internet now. My first year and a half in country without internet went well enough, but having it now has made a huge difference in staying connected and getting work done (as well as applying for grad schools). All of the files we are sent from Peace Corps are accessible through internet or from a disc. My teachers and directors sometimes communicate with me through e-mail. I've been limiting my use, but it's there when I need it.

7. I am also thankful for my computer. I spent three long months last year without a computer and it was pretty hard. A lot of Peace Corps work gets done on a computer. All of the files we are sent from Peace Corps are accessible through internet or from a disc. My teachers and directors sometimes communicate with me through e-mail. Again, I get a lot more work done with my computer, typing up notes, looking up activities and lessons, writing letters and other documents, as well as storing my photos so that they don't disappear if my camera disappears. Not to mention movies and music. Since my MP3 player went missing with my friendly neighborhood thief, this is my only access to my favorite tunes, which will become increasingly important as Christmas draws nearer and I need more and more of my favorite Christmas songs.

8. I am thankful for books. These have always been around to keep me sane, especially when my computer crapped out and when I didn't have the internet to keep me occupied. I spend more time reading books than I do on my computer, so these should probably rank above computer and internet, but they aren't necessarily crucial to my work. I am also sharing my love of reading with my host sister Jeimy. We're reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire together in Spanish. So I'm thankful to share this wonderful thing with her (and hopefully inspire her to keep reading when I'm gone).

9. I'm thankful for having 25 years here on earth. I've been blessed with lots of opportunities to really get out there and get to know other people and places and learn from many diverse experiences during my (almost) 25 years of life. With some of the crazy things I've been through, sometimes I'm surprised I've made it this far, but I'm looking forward to whatever the next 25 years (or however many) bring.

10. I am thankful for the 'luxuries' of running water, electricity and indoor plumbing. I remember back when I applied to Peace Corps and requested Africa thinking that I might very well be living in a very rural place with limited or no electricity, no running water, and a hole in the ground. While in Uganda, I experienced this and it was a little tougher (lugging water is hard work!), but I was fine with it after the initial shock wore off (pretty quickly). But having all of these make life so much easier and more pleasant. Sometimes I miss my hole in the ground and having running water of course leads to lots of waste, but I am thankful for having access to these things. And now I have a t.v. in my room! And access to a washing machine (though I will miss washing my clothes by hand sometimes)! Despite a lack of privacy and control over my life, moving back in with my host family does have some advantages.

11. I am thankful for pumpkin pie. This is the one Thanksgiving food I will be eating today courtesy of the Mennonite bakery in the city. I am also thankful that my friend Amber and I snagged the last two. My host family will hopefully enjoy at least this one tradition from Thanksgiving. I am also thankful for all other types of food that I enjoy, some of which Guatemala provides in abundance (fresh fruit and veggies, caldo de res, fried chicken, Tortrix, tortillas, and tamalitos, among lots of others).

12. Home Alone in Spanish. Enough said. (Yay cable!)