Ah well, we had a great Thanksgiving dinner. All the food was excellent, in spite of me nearly burning the turkey in an oven that overheats by over 50 degrees. Our Chilean wife made mashed potatoes for the first time and they were perfect. Our other American wife brought green beans and the bachelors brought beer, wine, and Hagen Daaz vanilla ice cream for the store bought apple kuchen. The ice cream had been thawed and frozen a few times, but we ate it without complaining. The guys watched American football while we girls chatted and everyone had a good time. It was nice to have a good meal, but even nicer to share it with friends, especially when we're so far away from family. That'
PRE-THANKSGIVING IN ANTO So here we are in Anto, just about 8 Americans working in the company, trying to "do" a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It is, of course, all about getting together with family and friends and giving thanks for all God's blessings, but there is the food. Yum! So I'm going out today to scavenge the grocery stores for a turkey. We've already given up on pumpkin pie since the Americans cooking aren't equipped yet to actually cook. We'll find some pre-made dessert in the store that will pass for apple pie, maybe. I don't expect to find a turkey, maybe turkey breast, but there's always chicken in a pinch. I'll look for cranberry sauce, but have no expectations of
Life surely does take us on a journey of twists and turns. I'm back in a country I thought I would not return to, Chile. I am still very sad not to be in Zambia, especially now during the rainy season that I love so much, but at least I am somewhere else that I enjoy. When we lived here before we were in the high desert of the Atacama in Calama. Most thought it was horrible, but I loved it--except for the wind. The only climate change was whether the wind was blowing very hard or just blowing. Forget a hairdo! The Chileans consider Calama to be the back-of-beyond as Santiago is the heart of the country. Most ex-patriots living there and working in the metal industry put up with it fo