A Guatemalan Thanksgiving

Guatemala obviously doesn’t celebrate Pilgrims and North American Native Indians. Although I’m enjoying this new culture and all the holidays they do celebrate (which is quite a lot, actually), I have longed for home even more than normal as the holidays have approached. Stephen and I decided to host a Thanksgiving feast for some of our new friends on Saturday. Thursday was out of the question since everyone was working!

While we also have lovely Guatemalan friends, everyone on the guest list was American (or married to one) and we ended up having 15 people (counting babies and children) over to celebrate. It was pot-luck and we ended up having the most delicious feast. Some how or another, I even managed to have someone else bring the turkey and stuffing. At the end of the party, Stephen and I both agreed that it really did feel like Thanksgiving.

Here is the guest like and some pics. Maybe you can try to guess who’s who. J

Melina, Peter, Callie (age 2), and Oliver (6 months) – Friends from Virginia who have lived in our neighborhood while attending Spanish school for the Fall semester

Brittany, Luis, and Ian (age 3) – Another family in our neighborhood. Brittany is from Indiana and her husband is from Honduras. Their son, Ian, is good friends with Sam.

Seth, Leslie, and Natalia (age 18 months) – Friends at our new church. Seth is from Minnesota and Leslie is from Guatemala. Natalia and Ruthie are so sweet together!

Judy and John –A missionary couple that lives across the street from us. Judy prepared the turkey and it was deliiiiiicious.

Judy and Gene – Another couple from our neighborhood. Gene and Judy are retired boaters and have lived here for six years.

Maritza – Maritza lives across the street from me, too, and is my closest friend here in Guatemala.