Thanksgiving (sorry, no pictures because my camera ran out of batteries)
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Uncategorized
For Thanksgiving, our boss invited Cindy, Matt and I to join their family and friends at the most luxurious hotel in Addis. They had a Thanksgiving buffet—complete with all foods Ethiopian and Indian, but without key Thanksgiving foods like cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie with real spices. So, it was a mixed blessing, although I felt like such a snob complaining about the lack of Thanksgiving food at a 5 Star hotel. But as an American I just can’t help but have certain expectations for Thanksgiving.
It was a nice time to be spoiled by a nice meal and beautiful hotel, but it felt very strange to go by a neighborhood full of shacks and then walk into such a fancy hotel. The richest of the rich in Addis and the poorest of the poor sleep right next to each other and something about that seems wrong. As I tried to speak in a little Amharic with the hotel staff they looked at me surprised and some of them smiled. I don’t think they hear Amharic from a forengee (the common word for foreigners, aka my new name) in this place.
As Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is approaching, I realize that these holidays just won’t quite feel the same without my family. That’s just life here far away from home. Nonetheless, I have to enjoy them for what they are. I have never gotten to go out to eat for Thanksgiving. My family always slaves away in the kitchen the whole day. And I’ve never celebrated Christmas in Ethiopia and here I’ll probably get to celebrate it twice since Ethiopian Christmas is in January.
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