Since I have been in Jozi I have made a few good friends who are American. We managed to coerce the one who had invited us to a small girls night dinner into making a Thanksgiving meal for 9! Thanks Namrata for having us over, and thanks Pat (hubby) for putting up with us (again)!
Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the US on the 4th Thursday of November. In Canada they celebrate on the 2nd Monday of October. I’m so jealous. These guys start the festive season with a bang – a meal to celebrate that rivals Christmas dinner! They have a full on turkey roast with all the trimmings nom nom nom
Thanksgiving has a lot of history which you can read about here
Rob and I were particularly excited about this meal as it may well replace our big Christmas dinner – we will be celebrating in the sun this year with another family so they may do things differently. We also caught up with a friend from London who is only in SA for business for 2 nights, so it was a great for him to meet our new friends and for them to meet him
Thanksgiving SA style!
Well the meal was just delicious! Turkey, stuffing, twice baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, squash, broccoli and yummy cranberry sauce. It was interesting to have a US version of a roast dinner, as our version in the UK is so different! Karen cooked a yummy cheesecake for dessert – it was delicious!
The spirit of Thanksgiving got me thinking about what I am thankful for. I am thankful that my life didn’t turn out the way it could have. I have absent parents and made my way in life wholly on my own. I was lucky enough to not make too many bad decisions along the way and have ended up in a pretty great place. Not everyone has the opportunities that I have had to better their situation, and for this I have been lucky. I am thankful that Rob came into my life and has given me the opportunity that I have always wanted and needed, which is to get away and experience a new country and a new culture, whilst sharing it all with my best friend. Without him I would still be in London stuck in a rut, not enjoying life like I am right now. I am thankful for all the other special people that I am lucky enough to have in my life – my friends and family are awesome and a lot of my friends fill in the gaps of the family members that are missing. I am thankful for 2 naughty cats that, although annoying, are the sweetest little beasts in the world and give the best cuddles ever. Finally, I’m thankful for the person that I am becoming. I’m not always nice to be around, but I’m a good person, and as I get older I like the person that I am more and more. I’m definitely improving with age!
Take a moment today to think about what you are thankful for. It could really put things in perspective. Happy Thanksgiving my friends!
Martina in Jozi 
Aw! That’s a very nice post. But you cut my face out of the pic — boo!
I know. I’m sorry. That wall was in the way and I couldn’t get far enough back!
I’m just kidding 🙂
it wasn’t coercion i was happy to do it 🙂 i like your list of things you are thankful for, i’m working on mine now and trying to make it as poignant.
and it was yummy! Matt was very impressed – I think he thought we were taking him to some riff-raff’s house for a bog standard dinner!