Thanksgiving!

I don't know where the time goes. I thought I would have tons of time on my hands once I FINALLY left on my trip, that it would no longer be go-go-go for Mo, that I would be tanning (or burning) on a beach somewhere... but I guess I'm a person that goes-goes-goes and somehow I struggle to find time for Spanish homework, emailing, posting to my blog, etc. Maybe on this trip, I can learn to slow down, to do less and relax more. Hard to say. Too early to tell.

Today I'm feeling a little lonely, I'll be honest.

Several people I've met while I've been here and around Guatemala have asked me what it's like to travel alone, if I'm ever afraid, if I get lonely, etc.

What I usually say is that I haven't really been afraid and sometimes I get lonely, but not very often and sometimes it's okay to feel lonely anyway, but that usually I'm good at meeting people so it's not so, so often that I find myself alone.

On this trip when I'm feeling lonely or depressed, I really try to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. I think, "Why I am feeling like this? What can I do to change how I'm feeling?" or "It's okay that I'm feeling like this, and it'll pass." Sometimes writing in my journal helps. Sometimes calling home to friends or family helps, but sometimes I can't because I don't feel like talking about how I'm feeling. And sometimes an extra dose of fish oil is all I need!

Today I took the fish oil, called my Grandma, and now this post is kind of like writing in my journal, but I'll spare you the real journal entry for today! What I thought I'd do is respond to some questions about my Thanksgiving and share with you an excerpt from my journal on Thanksgiving. (I'm feeling better already.)

Thanksgiving day, I had my usual Spanish lesson in the morning. Oliver and Becky stopped by in the early afternoon to retrieve some stuff they had left with me. We lounged around my room for a while chit-chatting, which I really enjoyed. Doug popped by quickly. Nancy popped in and out a few times. It was lazy and casual and felt like Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving dinner may have been the least traditional one I've ever had. I ate in a little Guatemalan restaurant in the back of a "tienda" (a little convenience store, but not like 7-11. Think way smaller, dingy-ier, no slurpees, etc.). I dragged Oli and Becky (who were recovering from food poisioning, bad water, who knows?) along with me to meet Nancy (my Canadian "mom") at the tienda restaurant with no sign or any indication of a restaurant. Nancy was there with an 80 year old gentlemen named David.

David has been living in Guatemala for the past 19 years or so working with the indiginous poor here in a village somewhere outside of Antigua. He was fascinating, hard of hearing, and thoroughly enjoyed his boxed red wine. I think he's married, but he's wife doesn't want to live in Guatemala with him.

There was no menu at this place, so when I was tried in my best Spanish to politely order something that didn't contain meat (or chicken for that matter!), David suggested I order the "caldron" or something like that. It was basically a vegetable soup - made with a chicken broth, I'm sure - but I ate all the rice, potatoes, and other vegetables out of it and pretended that one bite I had with something weird and rubbery in it wasn't a little piece of chicken, and I left most of the broth in the bowl for fear my stomach may not receive it lovingly.

It was a mellow Thanksgiving. Turns out David didn't know it was Thanksgiving until this week. Nancy is Canadian, so her Thanksgiving was in October. Oliver is German, so no Thanksgiving and recovering. And Becky, who is American, was recovering as well. So those two weren't all that jovial, and even so, Oli was kind enough to go back to the hostel twice to retrieve the boxed wine I had left. First to look for it outside of their room door where I told him I left it, and a second time to get it from the kitchen where I actually left it, which I remembered once he returned the first time and told me it wasn't there.

So although the evening and the food weren't exactly exciting, the company was great and in any case, I was thankful. From my journal:

"...in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I think I need to list and explain some things and people for which/whom I am thankful..it's really more people than things.

1. Doug - my first friend in Antigua who is sort of like my Simmel of Antigua.
2. Nancy - my "mother" who feeds me regularly, checks in with me daily...and likes to talk about men, Guatemala, yoga and the magic of Antigua, etc.
3. Victor - my Spanish teacher who is fascinating, knowlegeable on a very wide variety of subjects, and most importantly a firm believer in God and the miracles he has experienced. I could write a whole book on Victor's experiences with miracles.
4. Becky & Oliver - who have really been my best friends here. I care for them greatly and they for me. They have been a constant source of companionship & entertainment, and I will really miss then when we finally have to part ways. They have become like family to me.
5. I'm thankful for Nick-the-Brit and Nick-the-American who both individually and separately gave me insight on life and love and travel and relationships, from two very different perspectives...and very different than my own.
6. I'm thankful for my nice room (with the occasional big spider or cockroach) and the hot shower, which could never compare to the U.S., but I'm thankful nonetheless.
7. I'm thankful for the safe & uneventful travel I've experienced.
8. And last, but not at all least, I am thankful for my family and my friends who support what I'm doing, for those who check on me regularly as well as those who think of me often.

I am so very, very blessed."

So, although my shirt was on backwards most of the day today, at least I don't have my undies on inside out! I succeeded at feeling better and am looking forward to meeting up with Andrea from Golden, CO in a couple of hours!

As always, thank you so much for your emails and comments!