Giving Thanks

People have been asking why I haven’t posted a blog lately, and the truth is I just haven’t been very inspired. But as I was cooking my plain pasta up for dinner tonight (and drinking wine, I’ll admit), I started thinking about Thanksgiving tomorrow. I began fantasizing about the amazing meal we’re going to have at the PC country director’s house, by far the best I get in Togo. I also began thinking about the graces we used to say around our family table, when we shared what we were thankful for. Obviously, in a crowd of 50 volunteers we don’t do this. So instead, I thought my blog would be a fitting place to express what I’m thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

First and foremost, I’m thankful for my family. I have parents who not only support me in my various wanderings, but can relate to me as I take a more winding route to figure out what my calling is in life. When I decided to uproot myself, move halfway across the world, make 8 dollars a day and put off grad school, they not only supported me, they were enthusiastic. I’m thankful for a sister who tries to understand me even though we could not be more different, a sister with whom I can have entire conversations in movie and SNL quotes, a sister who reminds me that the simple things in life matter most: family, friends, home. I am thankful for the rest of my family, my (amazingly generous) grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I am so fortunate to be as close to them as I am, and am SO VERY thankful that I am able to be with them this Christmas. I am thankful for my friends, who have, over and over, listened to me ramble on about the mundane details of Africa, when I know I’m talking too much but just can’t seem to keep myself quiet. Sarah, Deborah, Kate and all my friends who call, email, write, facebook, and give their support from afar. Your love means so much.

One of the reasons I’m still here is my fellow PCVs, and I am so thankful for them. Ashley and Anna never fail to respond to my texts when I’m worrying about my cats, my health or my sanity. They remind me that I’m not alone on this strange, fascinating, frustrating, amazing journey. I’m thankful for my Togolese families, plural. My host mother in Agou who somehow remembered and found the money to call me on my birthday. Mawussi, Amelavi, Didi and Gloria, who challenge and uplift me every day. I’m thankful for Michel, an amazing man and fantastic colleague, who shows me what motivation is.

Living here has made me thankful for the simpler things in life. I must say, I am thankful for electricity. For running water. For fans. For the fact that cockroaches seem to be afraid of my house now. For flushing toilets. For my cats, who worry me to death but provide me comfort and companionship. For Wheat Thins. Oatmeal Crème Pies. Cheese.

It’s easy to wallow in the negative here in Togo, as my last blog clearly shows. But I try to remind myself that although I sometimes feel as if I’m exiled in a foreign land, I have much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!