Thanksgiving in St. Vincent

Being a long way from home gets tough as the holidays start rolling in. Thanksgiving is one of my favorites because of all the food that I get to eat. The menu is usually as follows:

• turkey
• chicken
• ham 
• greens 
• baked Mac n cheese
• corn on the cob
• dressing (not a fan, but will eat with cranberry sauce)
• sweet potatoes (can be a pie, mashed or diced, casserole, etc)
• banana pudding
• peach cobbler
• corn bread

Even though I look forward to it each year, it's not the same since I'm in a different country. Thanksgiving is an American holiday and for me it has always meant spending time with family and talking about what you're thankful for. Sometimes, Thanksgiving is really the only time you get to see family, especially if they live in another city or state. 

 I wanted to celebrate it still, so I took a half day from school and cooked. I baked chicken, Mac n cheese and made sweet potatoes. Another Peace Corps Volunteer hosted the dinner and she made golden apple juice and a chocolate pie. I invited a friend and a few of our neighbors over. One of them brought sorrel (sah-rail) juice, which is a local juice. We ate and talked and also went around the room saying what we are thankful for. For me, I am thankful for life and how things turn out. If someone told me last year that I would be a teacher on an island, I wouldn't have believed them. 

I also made enough food to bring to school for the principal and teachers. They all loved it and were surprised by how I cooked the sweet potatoes. Here they just cook the sweet potatoes and yams and let the natural flavors and sweetness come out. However, I cut them up, added brown sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Even though cooking for a lot of people was a lot of work and I didn't have everything on the menu that I wanted to make (I wasn't able to make a lot of things due to the time and resources that I had), 

I still got to celebrate Thanksgiving with the people I've come to love on this island. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as well!

All Saints Day and All Souls Day

In America, we celebrate Halloween each year on October 31st. The night is full of costumes, trick or treating and partying. However, here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, that holiday isn't celebrated. On November 1st they celebrate All Saints Day followed by All Souls Day on November 2. It's similar to Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico. They go to the grave sites for loved ones, light candles and leave flowers.

According to BBC, All Saints Day is an opportunity for believers to remember all saints and martyrs, known and unknown, throughout Christian history. All Souls Day is for commemorating the departed and praying for the souls in purgatory.


               

Last Friday, I went to the cemetery with the people in my community. I was taken aback by the sight of it all. Candles lit next to flowers and wreaths made the grave sites look bright and alive. I spotted one of my students and walked with him and his dad to both of the cemeteries to light the candles for their grandfather and uncle. Everyone was happy and reminiscing about their loved ones. I'm happy that I was able to walk around and see the joy on the faces of the people in my community.