KB in Honduras: Thanksgiving in Honduras

I give thanks that Karla (my host-mom's cousin) came to visit from Boston during this week of Thanksgiving. She told Xiomara on the phone ahead of time that she would like to prepare a big Thanksgiving meal with me for the family. This was happy news for me because I had just been expecting a normal work week. So on Tuesday I went with my family to pick Karla up from the airport in San Pedro Sula. After having a huge lunch at Pizza Hut (which is like a fancy restaurant here), we went to the biggest grocery store (not really that big) to buy all the American food we could find that is not sold in smaller cities and towns. It was actually a really exciting experience for me because I saw things that I haven't seen in months, like Cheese-Its, celery, Special K, and cheddar cheese. I didn't buy any of these things though because they are incredibly expensive, and half the time it is not the real item inside the box. They replace it with a cheaper version and sell it for the same price. Pretty terrible.

Our plan was to have a big supper on Thursday night at 6:30 with all the extended family and close family friends. Since Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, I still had work all week but decided to take Thursday morning off to cook. I baked pumpkin pies in the morning and made a fruit jelled salad (traditional dish in my family) so they both had time to chill. After work in the afternoon, I came home to help Karla cook dinner. There are no turkeys in Honduras, so we prepared 8 chickens. We made green salad, rice pilaf, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pasta salad, and mashed plantains. (Had to have a Honduran dish.) It was not like a typical Thanksgiving dinner in my family, but it was way more American than I thought I was going to have, so I felt very lucky. The food is a different here though; the milk is different which made the mashed potatoes different. And the spices are all fresh so they are a lot stronger. I literally pulled ginger root from the ground and toasted it along with cinnamon and cloves, and then ground them all to make pumpkin pie. A different, but fun, way to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.

We weren't actually even done cooking by 6:30 and still had to carry all of the food over to my host-grandparent's house. They have a big porch where we set up tables and chairs for everyone. Karla and I started the evening by thanking everyone for coming because this is an important American holiday for us. It was really strange looking around at everyone that night, and being the only white person. Haha, but really, it was a very surreal kind of night. I felt so happy seeing everyone smiling at me, caring about me. But then I had moments where I felt incredibly sad because it is all so different and I really miss everyone and everything about America. But I am thankful to have a such a loving, supportive host-family here! The night consisted of eating, talking, laughing, and sharing stories. But it ended in a private little concert! We were standing outside talking, after saying good-bye to all of the guests, when we heard terrible trumpet playing coming from next door. The house connected to my host-grandparents is owned by their son Elder, and since he is part of the band New Combo '75, they use it to store all of their instruments and to practice. Well, Elder found an ancient trumpet and wants to play it, and apparently Luis, a band member, also wanted to try playing. We went in to listen to him and the next hour turned into a singing fest for Karla. She has a lot of energy and wanted to hear Elder play and Luis sing, and then she wanted to join in. It was a really fun, amusing night because she kept requesting songs and then lip-singing along with them. It was nice to end the night with laughter.

They have Life cereal!!

Almost done cooking!

Me and my host-grandfather Orlando

Some of the family crowded around, waiting....

Listening to Karla give thanks

A Honduran thanks

Look at all that food!

And dessert! Seriously lacking in chocolate...

Me and my host-dad's mother.

Me and my little brother :)

Me and one of my other brothers, David

The Americans!

Me and my host-parents

I was excited to see Christmas decorations....

They are peeking through the screen door, watching Luis try to play the old trumpet.

Karla laughing at how awful it sounds, not because Luis lacks skill but because the trumpet is older than we can count.

Luis, lead singer of New Combo '75, adding trumpet to his skills.

Elder, my host-mom's brother who is in the band and can play just about every instrument.

Luis singing and Elder playing for us. Karla has not been here since Luis joined the band and wanted to hear him sing since people gush over his talent.