Thanksgiving 2006

This was a very memorable Thanksgiving. About 15 Peace Corps Volunteers went to Kevin’s house in Pandan, Antique, on Panay. We planned Thanksgiving dinner for Saturday, so we wouldn’t have to take vacation days to get there on Thursday. I left my city Thursday after school and stayed with our Filipina friend, Renee, who lives in Bacolod. Friday morning, Tim, Renee and I got on the boat to Iloilo and met Allan, another PCV, and the four of us got on a bus up the coast. Allan and I got off at Lau-aan, where we stayed the night with our friends, Ryann and Eli Heller. The next morning we got our stuff together, Eli picked up a turkey, and we caught a bus to Pandan. We were on the same bus as the Farvers and Ian, so the 7 of us showed up at Kevin’s together. Everyone started preparing food. I helped Ryann make an apple crisp. Some people brought pies, some of the boys started preparing the turkeys, and there were vegetables and stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy to make. Kevin’s house is on the beach, and is about 10 feet from a German volunteer’s house, so we used both houses to prepare our feast. They built fire pits on the beach to roast the turkeys on. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. The food was ready about 4pm, and we dug in. It all tasted great. You kind of expect a Peace Corps thanksgiving to taste wrong. But everything was just like home! I think this is probably because we have some really good cooks in our group. All I did to help was cut apples, and you don’t really have to be a good cook to do that right.
So we all sat around under palm trees on the beach eating our thanksgiving dinner, and we all felt very happy and thankful that we could be together. It was pretty cool.
After dinner, some people went swimming, I went on a walk, and we all just hung out. Later I played hearts, and we had a bonfire on the beach, and the Farvers had a Christmas trivia game with a grand prize of a CD of Christmas music. And I won! It was a great victory. I am putting this on my resume to give Alex Trebek when I get home.
Most of us stayed that night in Kevin’s house or the German volunteers house. There were a few beds, and I lucked out and got to share one, so I didn’t have to sleep on the floor. The next morning I got up too early (6:30) and went to visit my old host family in Oton, Iloilo. That was really nice too, I spent the night there. Finally Monday morning, I headed home. I got back to Cadiz about 3pm and had to clean my house and take a long nap. It was an excellent weekend.