Thanksgiving, à la Française

A very happy and slightly belated Thanksgiving to all of the readers out there, wherever you are!

Thanksgiving or Christmas?  The snow started Thursday early afternoon and continued on and off most of the weekend.

  

I thought this was clever and complex,
yet not too difficult for my
oldest students to figure out.

Every holiday celebration is slightly different (or extremely different in my case) and Thanksgiving 2010 was no different.  Since my job here in France is to use American culture to teach French students the (American-)English language, Thanksgiving was an obvious choice for two weeks worth of class lessons.  Like my fellow American assistants, I spent the week prior researching a little on the background of Thanksgiving, as well as debating how to best include (or not include) some of the more culturally-sensitive aspects of Thanksgiving.  Having participated in many an elementary school Thanksgiving feast (including being a chosen reader in a Thanksgiving skit that would no longer be considered culturally appropriate), I had a lot of memories but needed a brush-up.  After scouring the internet for various lesson plan ideas, stories, and whatnot (some ok, many terrible), I decided it would be best to brush over some of the sensitive aspects and focus on what Thanksgiving has become today in America (having not participated in a US Thanksgiving in 3 years, I'm not really "up" on US culture, but whatevs).  Instead of the fateful first interactions between the Pilgrims and Native Americans (including Squanto who's story I am now fully versed on), I focused on four aspects: 1. Family (and friends), 2. Food; 3. Football (and the Macy's parade), and 4. Being Thankful.

I prepped a few different lessons, based on the grade level but all very similiar and was pleasantly surprised when they were mostly well-received by the students.  While I'm not sure if they understood everything, they all know that we eat turkey and pumpkin pie (which they think is a disgusting idea), watch football/the parade, and most get that we like to be with family and friends.  A few students and teachers even understood that it's hard to be away from family/friends/other Americans for the holiday, and asked me if I was sad, which was sweet.  Some may have even understood the idea "to be thankful for", because I asked them about it, but it's a much harder idea to get through their heads than the idea of a "large chicken" and lots of other types of food.  Whatever, it worked and put me in a great mood all week and helped get me into the spirit of Thanksgiving (even though I had to work on Thursday). 

  

A small, typical French oven

While in America for the Derlunas wedding, I planned ahead and purchased two cans of Libby's pumpkin in anticipation of perhaps being brave enough to do a Semur Thanksgiving.  A few weeks prior, I chickened out of everything except pumpkin pie due to the small size of our kitchen and my busy Thursdays.  However, as I was prepping the lessons, I got brave again and talked to the other American assistant in Semur, Jie, and we decided to get our international group of girls together for a Thanksgiving.  We had 4 countries represented (or perhaps 7, depending how you want to think of it) and had people bring dishes. 

Monika had difficulty carving the chicken,
so Vir was called in to help (not the
US Americans)

We didn't have a turkey due to the size of our tiny oven, but Vir and Anne (Argentina and France) made a delicious apple glazed chicken; Jie (the US, China) made mashed potatos, gravy, and chesnuts; Monika (Germany, Bolivia) made the beans and whipped cream, and provided the wine; and I introduced the girls to pumpkin pie.  (Klara, also from Germany, arrived in time for dessert, armed with delicious sparkling peach wine.)  It was quite the feast!



Thanksgiving Semur-style
Myself, Anne, Vir, and Jie. 
(Monika took the picture and Klara had not yet arrived.)



  

Not the prettiest pie ever, but I nearly
melted tasting it, yummy!

Even though I didn't have Thanksgiving Day off, I was still able to benefit from a long weekend since I always have Fridays off.  A bunch of the American assistants located in Dijon wanted to get together and celebrate Thanksgiving, so after submitting my first grad school application of the year, I "quickly" baked another pie and hopped on the bus.  I arrived to the setting-up of the Dijon Christmas market and spent an enjoyably long evening with other North Americans conversing over some great food.  (I didn't take any pictures though because there were about 5 or 6 other cameras constantly snapping and didn't find it necessary, sorry people.)  We played a fun game similar to taboo where I discovered how out of touch I am with French culture and government, being more of a franco-afrophile than a true francophile, which I am mostly okay with.  It was a great evening and I really appreciated being a non-Dijoner invited to celebrate with those based in the city itself.  Thanks to Taya for hosting the large group of us, Sarah for letting me stay at her place for the night, and Erica for grabbing coffee with me when I arrived several hours before the start of the dinner.  It was also a great opportunity to discuss travel possibilities with some others who are up for something a little more exciting than Western Europe...

And now, since it is (or was) Thanksgiving, I guess I should mention some of the things that I am Thankful for this year, in no particular order:

• All of the people who have sent me cards and letters in the past month, especially the Thanksgiving cards.  A big thanks for the three packages that arrived this week from Jen, Emily, and Bob and Margaret, especially the homemade cranberry banana bread and all of the chai tea, AMAZING!  Thanks for all of the love and kindness, even when I sometimes feel silly asking for things while living in a developed country.
• To my parents and everyone else who continue to support my crazy ideas and inability to stay in the same place or country for too long, in the midst of the crazy economic annoyances and massive student loans, especially with everything else they have to take care of.  You guys are champs and God has a special spot in heaven for you.  Thank you for your love and support.
• My sister, who I only seem to see once a year, but whom my students already think is cooler than I am because she is working so hard at something she loves and her bands will be huge some day.  Though she couldn't make it to Senegal, hopefully she can make it to France.  She, and several other friends, are inspiring me to start "running" (err, attempt to).  Maybe someday I will be able to do a 5km, but at least now I can do something since I don't have Zumba or Healthbridge.
• For all of my friends and family in Senegal.  I talked to many of them a few weeks ago for Tabaski and swelled with love as they passed the phone around, sending blessings and offers of sheep meat my way.  I miss them more than words can say and can't wait to return, hopefully sooner rather than later.  Amidst my frustrations and difficulties over the 27 months, they taught and loved me so much and I genuinely miss my crazy life with them in Ndiomdy (and Thies).
• For my job here in Semur-en-Auxois.  The town is super adorable and though I might not love the job and the school might not be the most organized/functional, it's still a job that at least pays a little. It has already shaped part of where my life is going (or more, where it's not going...) and I've met some great people and I know there will be some fun adventures in our future.  I have an apartment and though it's freezing, at least I have someone to share it with and fight for better heating--and we get along!
• Tying in to the above, I am thankful for all of the amazing and crazy experiences I've had and will hopefully continue to have.  After life in DC, the city of world travelers, I sometimes forget that things like study abroad, alternative break, mission trips, the Peace Corps, and other types of global work are NOT actually normal for most people.  When my students asked me where I've traveled, they were shocked that I've been to 39 US states and over 20 countries!  I had never even thought about that until they asked, but I've been blessed with some cool and ridiculous jobs and opportunities to learn more about the world in the hope of making it a better place some day.  Little by little.  O ndang o ndang.
• For the $6 Target leggings I bought prior to coming which have already played an important role as long underwear/layers and the newly purchased 5euro H&M legwarmers.  Best purchases in recent memory, hands down.  I may fantasize about the days when I woke up sweating in my hut instead of shivering curled up with my computer next to the radiator, but at least I have things to layer. 
• God, because He is pretty freakin' incredible, 'nuff said.

There's so much more I could include, but I will stop there.  Thanks for reading this and I hope that you all have a great start to the holiday season.

Yea Malaria Prevention!

So please check out this video shout out to Peace Corps Senegal and their work with Malaria No More (Ed Helms is from The Office if you think he looks familiar).  While I never did one of their mosquito net distributions, many of my friends did and I worked with other distributions and on lots of other types of Malaria prevention education.  (Check out my blog entry about Neem Lotion from November 2009: http://pcbeth.blogspot.com/2009/07/fighting-malaria-1-bar-of-soap-at-time.html)

Ok, here's the video.  Yea Peace Corps! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcCV0uGqMVI


(btw Comedians Against Malaria?  Whatever, as long as it helps combat the spread of this controllable disease.)

A Day on the Vines

So prior to my brief US sejour, I spent a fabulous afternoon in a tiny village an hour or so away from Semur, visiting the family of some friends here (the parents of the host mom of two of the assistants--her name is Odile).  They live in an old agricultural village, have fields, several gardens, animals, and a tiny vineyard.  We were invited to help with their recolt, which is done by hand in a long afternoon because the vineyard is so small.  This was one of my favorite days so far in France because the weather was gorgeous and it gave me a chance to get back outside, in the sun, and working in a garden.  Hopefully this day was just the start of my Burgundy wine-o education :)





We went up and down the steep rows, filling up buckets, emptying them in large barrels, and refilling them, all the while munching on fresh grapes right off the vine.  After a tough few hours in the sun, we stopped and drank fresh grape juice and ate soft cheese and cookies.  So French.  It was perfect.

After returning to the farmhouse with the loot of grapes, the men started separating the fruit from the woody bits, and the other assistants and I followed Odile to check out the four massive gardens here parents (in their 80s!) still work.  If only the people from Ndiomdy could see these gardens!  Every household had at least one and most weren't even fenced in because animals such as goats, sheep, and cows are penned in and not allowed to run rampant (novel concept for the Senegalese!).  The largest garden was still full of carrots, varieties of cabbage, winter lettuce, spinach, and so many different types of leafy vegetables that I had to keep asking about.  We drained two of the gardens of any of the ripe varieties of squash we could find, from zuccini to pumpkin-like orange globes to miniature flying saucers, butternuts, spaghetti squash, random gourds, and even a few renegade cucumbers.

 Just one part of one of the many gardens, one of our more than 6 full barrels of squash, and me, excited to be outside, in a garden, and wearing flipflops again.

  



We finished the day with homemade pumpkin soup, the first of many episodes of squash soup this fall :)





The Girls

So though I have a lot to say about France right now, here's an article a fellow Senegal RPCV (now hanging out in Chile, then coming to France in January) posted.

Some of my faves: Sorkhna, Rose, and Awa

Giving African Girls a Chance to Learn

A lot of my Kaolack PCV friends worked with this organization, 10,000 Girls, while I was in Senegal, in varying degrees.  I never did because my schedule was pretty insane, as you know, but I always heard remarkable things about their work.

One paragraph especially stuck out to me.

"I researched the whys and wherefores of the little girls' educational failures. I found that of every 60,000 girls who enter first grade, only 4,500 finish primary school in the region of Kaolack. Of those 4,500 students entering middle school, only 1,500 will enter high school. Five hundred will graduate with a high school diploma, 150 will enter university, and 15 will receive their university degree."

15.  If a girl fails primary school two years in a row she is kicked out.  Or if she turns 15 in primary school, she is also kicked out at the end of the year.  It may sound old, but I knew many 14 and 15 year old girls who had delayed education and thus in the equivilent of 4th grade towered over some of their 9 year old classmates.  But they were still in school and that's what mattered.  They wanted to be there.

Mbarrou, Adama, Absa, Bigue, Ndiaye, Jambar, Fatou Khady, Jabu, Awa, Ndeye, Siga, Rose, Sauce, Ami, Sorkhna, Rhoky, Mame Gnilan, Fatou, Codou, Congo, and these are just some of the girls who touched my heart and who may never finish their studies, and probably don't even dream of making it through university as I have.  That's more than 15 names right there.  Maybe 5 or 6 of them will get to high school, and hopefully at least a few of them will graduate.  Absa's mom almost finished high school (making her the highest educated woman in Ndiomdy), so she has a higher chance of attending and hopefully completing high school as well, but the other girls?  Most of their mothers can't even read French. 

[I'm so proud of these girls and love them so much, which is part of why I organized and led activities at area schools, to help keep them there. I hope that someday the French students I work with will realize how blessed they are as well, instead of striking.]

What can be done?  I don't know and this entry isn't a chance for me to get on a soapbox to preach about the plight of my beloved village nieces and what we need to do--it's just to spread knowledge and appreciation of how blessed we are. 

The girls' mater watering team in the garden.  They put the boys' teams to shame.

Just another thing to be thankful for this November.