Thanksgiving in Warsaw

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Although I had been thinking about it for weeks, Thursday, November 27 was a tough day. Thursday was Thanksgiving Day in the US but it was just a regular work day here in Warsaw. Easel and I planned to have some people over and that was good. It made me plan something and not focus on what I didn’t have. I just had difficulty because this was the first Thanksgiving for me without any of my kids with me since before Jared was born! That means that for the last 29 years, I’ve always had at least one of the kids with me and for a good portion of that time, I’ve had all three of them. For the last several years, we’ve even had extended family with us. So, even though we had friends coming, I was missing my family.

There were many “firsts” this Thanksgiving. This was our first “empty nest” Thanksgiving. It was the first time I waited until Thanksgiving Day to buy the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving meal. Thursday was my first attempt to order something from the man behind the counter with the fresh poultry. (I was successful and got a fresh turkey!) I hadn’t roasted a fresh turkey before this Thanksgiving, so that was another “first”. It was my first attempt to cook a large meal in our galley kitchen—the turkey barely fit in the oven. It was also the first Thanksgiving dinner two of our guests had ever been invited to join. With all of those “firsts” happening, I’m glad to say that our dinner was a success.

Our guests included a Polish couple—he works with Easel—a young man from Indonesia who is a university student, and a young lady who recently moved to Poland from Ecuador. It was an interesting combination but it worked well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Easel and I shared our family traditions for Thanksgiving and then, at the urging of one of our guests, we all spoke about the things for which we are thankful. It was a lovely end to the meal.

Easel took both Thursday and Friday off, so we spent time working together to create our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday and we spent Friday shopping. Just like home! The major difference being that the shopping on Friday was relaxed and no more stressful than a normal day of shopping in Warsaw. We didn’t have to get up before dawn and we didn’t have to fight crazed bargain hunters! In fact, we had a very pleasant visit to a little shop that sells folk art. The proprietor gave us tea and cookies and told us a lot about how the various works of art were created. We walked away with some beautiful things and no stress. That, I could get used to!

So, while I missed my family, there was a lot that was positive about this Thanksgiving. I think it will go down as a good holiday. Now, to prepare for Christmas.