Thanksgiving is a big deal for my family. We cram into my cousin's house and eat a lot of food. Sometimes more cousins from Utah come. Sometimes old neighbors come. Food is cooked at my house and at my Aunt's house. My family is mostly a boy's club- I have 6 female cousins, compare that to my 21 male cousins. That's just my mom's side. When the Twilight movies came out around Thanksgiving we, the girls of the family, went to see it that morning. I loved that. Dinner starts around 5pm, after dinner we sit and talk and laugh until we can eat more.
I'm sure that's what happened at home this year.
I wasn't there.
This is MY Tanksgiving. (tanks- because you have to BE a tank to survive)
I called my family to update them, but mostly to get updated.
I was going to go to my ward thing for a while but then I don't know how I would've connected with my friend Sarah and her family for the rest of the day. (This family....I'm their upstairs renter, well one of them.)
So I went with Sarah to her voice teacher's 'dinner'. AT NOON! Get this, the ward thing was at 11am. What are these people thinking???? Dinner? More like brunch. Whatever.
Sister Anna is very sweet. Rather intimidating. Lives in a nice little house. Usually does Thanksgiving alone but realized that a bunch of her students didn't have anything for the holiday so she decided to host one. She has a heart of gold, you just have to see that.
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| The food. |
Sister Anna provided the Turkey. Get this- it was KALUA Turkey. This means that it was cooked over night in an imu (a pit) as a fundraiser for the boy scouts in the ward. Coolest thing ever. The turkey was way moist.
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| More people |
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| The people. |
The people- Sister Anna's voice students and their roommates, fiance(e)s, and mainland visitors.
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| HA- Chelsea is picking Sarah C's nose. not really though |
So we ate, listened to some music, talked about Miracles.
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| Jen, Chelsea, Sarah C |
Specifically 17 Miracles the movie.
We went around and said what we were each thankful for.
It is such a long list....
ARE YOU READY FOR PART 2?????
The correct answer is no. No. I wasn't.
2:00pm
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| SO many people. Not a problem, it was great. |
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| People I recognized but didn't really know. SO MANY PEOPLE |
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| That curry comes in later |
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| This is the food AFTER everyone had eaten and many of the people had left. Does this give you a little bit of a feel for HOW MUCH FOOD THERE WAS? so much |
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| The wonderful thing about not-white parties.....DANCING! |
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| These are the Tovey sisters. The family I live with. The one in green is Sarah, my friend. The one in the white has a 1 year old son who is one of my good friends. The one in the back is here visiting from Tahiti. The one in the yellow...is an auntie, not a Tovey. |
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| NOBODY escapes dancing. These are the Sister Missionaries and the mothers in the house |
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| The Chicken Dance- not the one you think. This is a TAHITIAN chicken dance. |
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| This is what I was given because I danced well. |
The dancing started after most of the extra people left. Neighbors, friends, Asians, non-islanders. It was basically family, extended family, by-name-only-family, and the senior couple missionaries. Uncle Tom and the Tovey brothers played the music for the Tahitian dancing. Then they played more common dance music.
Karaoke started later. Man, people love to sing. I love that these people love to sing. I love that they aren't always wonderful. I love that they mess with eachother about the songs they pick. The host's mom, Auntie Linna (who gave me the necklace), gave me a shirt because they liked me singing.
The Tovey children left to start Black Friday shopping and I stayed with Momma Tovey singing and having fun until she got cold and wanted to go home. I went home with her...and then decided to go back. So I did. And this is how I came back about an hour later.
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| I don't think you can appreciate this, let me try again. |
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| so heavy! |
SO MUCH FOOD
I walked home with all of that. Islanders are the most wonderfully giving people in the world. I went back to say "thank you" and goodnight and maybe get a plate of turkey because I don't want to cook tomorrow. Only here would you feel guilty for not accepting the food they want you to take. So not only did I come home from their dinner PARTY feeling welcomed and full, I came home with a handmade shell necklace because I danced with them and a t-shirt because I sang with them and 1 pan of rice, 1 pan of curry, 1 plate of turkey, 1 plate of salad and stuffing, and 1 plate of dessert because I'm a skinny(ish) college student. (can I say? I am rather impressed with myself for carrying all that 1/2 a mile home)
BUT THAT ISN'T ALL- as I went with Momma Tovey home, she asked if I had found a place for next semester. She has been talking about switching to Male housing so her son can move upstairs. She wasn't going to but it turns out that all of her current tenants ended up making plans to move- even Nagila who has lived here 1.5yrs. I said "Do I need to?" I can try. I am a firm believer in miracles. I believe if I take care of others, make others happy, do what God wants me to, serve whenever I can, make life just a little easier for those around me that I will be taken care of. Something will open up if I need it to. Well, Momma Tovey said that she's not 100% sure what she's going to do and she'll let me know as soon as possible, but that she'll talk to Sarah (my friend/her daughter) about me living with her. In her room. DOWNSTAIRS. Like, where the rest of the family lives. Do you know what that means? No, because I don't even really know what that means. I would use their kitchen when I cooked...but would I actually cook for myself since, chances are, I'll be eating around the time they are. Are they going to feed me? I'll certainly help pay for groceries. I don't know what is going to happen. All I know is that the Tovey family likes me and for that I am very grateful.
Funny things- I don't eat all that much. What am I going to do with all this food??????? There was mostly non-american-traditional food at the 2:00 extravaganza. Tahitian Raw Fish and Lemon salad, Samoan noodle stuff, seaweed, steeped banana leaves, curry, Filipino beef and potatoes, taro and pork.....on and on. But what was left over? Pounds and pounds and pounds of turkey, some potatoes, gravy, peas, lettuce salad. Obviously rice, and that pan of curry I took home. Interesting? yeah. Mom sent me food a while ago and I have done minimal shopping since, now shopping is obsolete...except the food will go bad within 3 weeks....I'll have to have a party.
You guys- I am so blessed. I am so Grateful for my family. For my school. For money. For my interests. For music. For amazing co-workers. For the wonderful people I spend time with. For my nerve. For promptings. For happiness. For the ability to bring about happiness. For all the people who are surprised when they find out I'm not 23ish. For missionaries. For the people who take help I offer. For people who visit me. For people who love me. For the US postal system. For sleep. For The Gospel. For inspirational material. For Christmas Music. For email. For love. For experiences. For the island. For Christmas lights. For the beach. For rain. For sun. For language. For education. For the written word. For small manifestations of God's love for me. For spell-check. For traditions. For time. For games. For laughter. For geckos. For hard things. For wrenches in our plans. For Temples. For Bishops. For tithing. For miracles. For plans. FOR LIFE. Thank you!
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