My D.R. Thanksgiving

There are many reasons why I considered myself blessed to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. I found one more reason over this past Thanksgiving holiday, my first major holiday without my family and friends. Since Domincans do not celebrate Thanksgiving (it is an American holiday after all) volunteers head to Santo Domingo to celebrate the holiday together. My Thanksgiving break here surpassed my expectations, I left feeling rejuvenated about completing my community diagnostic and I developed a deeper appreciation for my friends here.

Some volunteers and Peace Corps staff come together to plan Thanksgiving festivities for all of the volunteers. Since I´m apart of the newest group of volunteers, I had no idea what to expect, accept I was thankful for the opportunity to use my R&R days to reunite with volunteers in my training class and spend quality time catching up and sharing thoughts/advice on our sites.

We started out Thanksgiving morning with a turkey trot (5K) so that no one would fee bad about all of the food we would partake in later. My turket trot was more of a walk-catch up wth other volunteers which was great (hey speed walking burns calories too!) Then we headed a hotel rooftop pool. It was fun hanging out in the pool catching up with other volunteers...than we proceeded to the main event...Thanksgiving dinner. Now for those of you who know me...you know that I actually do not eat a typical Thanksgiving dinner while at home. I don´t really like turkey, stuffing, gravy...all that jazz. Instead I prefer barbeque chicken, mac and cheese, rice...sigh I should stop typing that stuff right now.

Before we ate, everyone at my table shared what they were thankful for which was a touching moment. I am always happy to reflect on all that I have been blessed with. Anyways, you know what happened at thanksgiving dinner right, I ate everything I normally do not eat (sin verguenza of course)..turkey, stuffing (with gravy it was delicious) salad, mashed potatoes, vegetable lasagna, brownies, apple pie and coffee. It was an amazing, glorious dinner. Once we were stuffed, we had the pleasure of enjoying a volunteer slideshow of pictures followed by the most hilarious talent show I´ve ever witnessed. Volunteers here have some serious talent and amazing humor too.The night ended with a volunteer party which (even though I don´t dance) is always a great time to hang out.

That is pretty much how I passed my Thanksgiving day and although I love and miss my family and friends a lot (send me a letter, picture, something people!) I enjoyed creating amazing memories with my new lifelong friends here. Sadly, I failed to take pictures but when I see some from other people, I will be sure to post them on here. I hope you guys enjoyed your Thanksgiving and know just how much I am thankful for your presence in my life.

Unfortunately for me, we do not have this kind of activity for Christmas but I am excited to see how Dominicans celebrate Christmas. Be sure to think of me during the holiday season!!

PS Please expect the my birthday is coming up/the best Christmas gift would be blog soon... Hey I cannot help it I won´t be able to post another blog like this for a whole year!!