This part of my journey is almost complete: I have three more days in the ecovillage with my classmates, after which I will be careening about Europe at breakneck speed... or more likely at this point, strolling through parts of Italy at as leisurely a pace as possible. I'd like to settle down a bit in one region, to really enjoy my surroundings on a deeper level, even if it's only for a couple weeks. I'll update you on my travel plans when they become more concrete.
Meanwhile, we had a lovely Thanksgiving - complete with turkey (gasp!), real boxed wine (a classic), and card games - the only thing missing was football on the telly, which was probably the only point of possible contention during the whole feast, and it was handled with grace - although I kinda missed the muffled cheers of crazed fans in the background.
Mom sent me a package of Thanksgiving decorations, and let me tell you, they were a hit. The paper turkey, scarecrow, maize, etc. made the little eco-house really feel American, and many warm thanks were extended to you that night, Mom. I know it made sound odd, but it really made quite a difference. I got a lot of really sweet comments about it.
Callie shows off her luscious stuffed tomato recipe. We had a blast preparing most everything using ingredients from the communal kitchen & shed - free food is always a bonus.
We encountered many a strange potato in the mashing.
And got extremely bored while the strange potatoes boiled.
Which brought us to another house full of feast-preparing students, including Mikaela and her pies. Some of the ingredients are still strewn about our kitchen, but the tart apple pie was well worth the mess.
Once we had completed the prep and arrived at our generous teacher's house, we all explained what we had made and why. And of course David (the professor some of us affectionately call "Papa Bear") made us all say something we were grateful for... talk about feeling at home :)
We all contributed one family tradition to the feast. I contributed cheese and crackers; my favorite part is the waiting (and I've already baked so much for this group they've taken to calling me 'mom').
Jake and Leaf heartily enjoyed the cheese and crackers (not to mention the wine).
I clean my plate and promote world peace at the same time - life is good. (I must have been dizzyingly full to have given the peace sign in that moment...)
We chose to replace the post-meal nap with post-meal massages. Not a bad swap, in my opinion.
I'm not sure where I'll be for Christmas, but if it's half as enjoyable as Thanksgiving was I'll have nothing to complain about. I'm going to deeply miss the makeshift, motley family we've formed here...
2 comments:
I am so honored to have made "honorable mention" in your blog - though even more glad that the decorations were enjoyed in the spirit in which they were given :) The question of the day is: in the midst of vegetarian/vegans...who ate the turkey? ~mom
You'd be surprised how many carnivores there are here... and how much they good-naturedly complain about the lack of animal in our diet :)
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