So, not being with my Sweetie™ and the boy (he's graduated from Weeberry) for Thanksgiving naturally is quite the downer, but the military does a great job of trying to bring home and family to you, even if your home is a metal shipping container and your family consists of 2,000 people you don't know all that well.
Anyway, whoever's in charge of the food here did a really nice job of trying to make Thanksgiving dinner as normal as possible. We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (can someone explain how green bean casserole became a Thanksgiving staple? This is a mystery to me.), gravy, and more. I missed out on the cranberry sauce, somehow, but no matter. Dinner was great.
Like most things in the military, it seems, the food service is not run by military cooks, instead, a contractor hires third-country nationals, mostly from South Asia, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and Africa to prepare and serve our food. On Thanksgiving, they were dressed up as Pilgrims and Native Americans. (I was gonna say Indians, but a lot of the South Asians ARE Indians, so...) I don't know how they viewed it, but it was fun and added to the atmosphere. The tables and walls were all decorated with fall-like pictures and posters, you know, the kinds you see in an elementary school classroom. Kinda cheesy, but sweet.
As I sat down to eat, I thanked God for so many blessings. I am very, very blessed. Believe me, having a Thanksgiving dinner in Africa, in Djibouti, amid poverty and suffering will humble anyone, and that evening, I felt very, very small, but confident in knowing that I'm here for a reason and that God loves me.
I haven't uploaded any pictures, yet, but you can check a few out here.
God does love you. Keep it up and get home safe!
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