Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This is all so anti-climatic and strange to me. Today is Thanksgiving; and I sit in the teacher's lounge of Santa Clara typing this entry. We have school today. There is no celebration of Thanksgiving in Honduras. There will be no turkey tonight. There will be no sitting outside in bone-numbing cold watching a high school or college football game. There will be no post-feast nap or time spent with my family today. Even stranger to me (but I like this part) is that today I am wearing flip flops and a sundress. After school; I have tentative plans to go swimming in the pool of one of my new friends. Thanksgiving Day does not exist for me in my world this year. What I have come to realize; though, is that everyday is like Thanksgiving for these beautiful people who have welcomed me into their hearts and homes during my adventure here. It is these amazing people who are teaching me to be thankful for all that I have; and to realize that one can be happy with very little. This year; I am counting all of my blessings.

This week has been an amazing one for me. One of last year's volunteers; Colleen Devine has been in town and has introduced me to some wonderful new people. On Saturday night; we attended a surprise party in the home of one of her old students; a blind boy by the name of Michael. There; we were welcomed with open arms and fed more pupusas and sugary cake than our bodies could handle. I also attempted to dance Punta for the very first time. My attempts were met with a lot of laughter. If you have ever seen anyone dance Punta, you would know that there as some EXTREMELY hip-defying movements that go along with this tradition dance. Well, imagine a white girl with NO hips attempting these moves? Let's just say, I am quickly realizing that I have NO talent in the area of dance. Back home I thought I could "cut a rug" pretty good; but here I am realizing otherwise. Still though; it's fun. And being so submerged in the Latin American culture is equally fun.

I also wanted to mention in this blog the passing of a classmate of an old classmate of mine. I learned on Monday that Glenna Kohl, who attended Salve Regina University with me passed away this past weekend after a 3 1/2 year battle with cancer. For some reason; her death seems to be hitting me pretty hard although the two of us were never close friends. I think that this is because I have seen real suffering amongst these people here in Honduras, but I have also seen their faith and their belief in the afterlife. I have had several people here assure me of her being at peace and their belief that she is in a better place. So in this entry, I just want to send my love and prayers to the Kohl family (who I believe is now reading this blog!) Glenna was a beautiful person and a woman of such strength and compassion! She is in the thoughts and prayers of many and will always be in our hearts!

Happy Thanksgiving; everyone! I will being seeing you all in about 3 weeks and I can't wait! Think of me today as you eat your turkey and pumpkin pie. I think I'll be having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner (I can't help it....I have to make you all feel a LITTLE badly about my missing the holiday! haha) Besos!!!!