Thanksgiving in Tucson

Yesterday I experienced the warmest Thanksgiving of my life: 71 and sunny. I have a hard time believing it is practically December because it is so warm here (although I keep hearing people say things like, "Now that it's getting colder...").

The first event of my Thanksgiving was attending an afternoon potluck at an apartment complex. The property manager had called us about a month ago to ask if we could be involved in helping to teach the people about Thanksgiving. About 28/34 families living there are refugee families, and the rest are Spanish-speaking. The refugees are primarily from Bhutan (but ethnically Nepalese), and there are also families from Somalia and Afghanistan.

We partnered with St. Francis in the Foothills UMC to make the event happen. They brought tables, chairs, and a traditional Thanksgiving dish to pass. The property manager supplied the plates, silverware, napkins, and drinks. He also supplied the families with ingredients for them to make their own traditional food to bring. The longer we were outside, the more people kept coming and bringing food, so that it was difficult to find enough room on the tables for everything! People had been encouraged to bring vegan dishes if possible since many residents are vegan. (With dishes like turkey this is obviously impossible though.)

The food was all delicious and I was thrilled to have so many different types of food to try! I was so full from my first plate that I couldn't even eat dessert. I spent time meeting people from St. Francis as well as refugees. Some could speak English and some couldn't, and often it seemed the children old enough to be in school could speak some English while their younger siblings and parents or grandparents could not. At one point I sat with a mother and daughter from Afghanistan and a man from Bhutan as they talked. The man from Bhutan switched between a language they all understood (but which I clearly didn't) and English. It is my hope to learn some basic phrases in many of these languages so that I can at least exchange a few words with the refugees who don't speak English.

After the event ended, I went with Fran and her son to their friends' home for Thanksgiving dinner. The house was full of family and friends and delicious food. Before the meal started, everyone had a turn to share their name and something they were grateful for, which was nice. The conversations were many, lively, and interesting, ranging in topics from Cuba to Obamacare to caregivers to memories from the day JFK was assassinated. We also had eight children running around as well as a dog and a cat. Since several of the families are Jewish, we also celebrated the second night of Hanukkah. The story of Hanukkah was told and the candles on the Menorahs were still burning when I left.

Although I missed my family and my own traditions, and the dear friends with whom I celebrated Thanksgiving in the past few years, I still had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

And, to top it all off, Iskashitaa's new joint culinary venture was featured in the paper yesterday! I was able to attend the cooking retreat and it was a wonderful experience. See the article here.

Apples and Onions

When we talk about highs and lows, our director likes to call them "apples and onions." (Because those are food resources. She also told me that I can use a carrot to hit people to get them to start following food product inventory protocol. Carrots are also a food resource.)

Apples are good things; onions are negative (which isn't quite accurate because I do like onions.) Anyway, today I wanted to share lots of different little things, so it seemed better to put them into this list. I'll start with the onions so I can end on a good note. 

Onions: 

-It's hard to make friends. I feel lonely often. Even though I am making some friends, I don't always see them often. I also want to be able to do other things. It's hard to go places because it is getting dark so early and I don't like traveling alone in the dark. 

-Though I enjoy Arizona, I miss Michigan a lot. I miss my family, my friends, my work, my Bible study, learning Chinese, the MSU campus, my dorm room, the trees, the water, the weather...I'm not sure if this will diminish as time goes on because I feel like I am still in a culture shock stage. 

-Sometimes I feel stressed out by my work. I like it but it can be chaotic and confusing at times. 

Apples: 

-My Dad and Lori visited me this weekend. We had such a wonderful time! It was so good to see them. We were able to visit some beautiful places in Tucson that I have not been able to see yet, like Gates Pass for the sunset and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which was amazing. 

-When Dad, Lori, and I went to the food workshop on Saturday, one of the refugees who met my dad told him that he would be a father to me when my dad was in Michigan. I almost cried. 

-Tonight we had a wonderful Food for Thought dinner. We have these dinners every other month at a restaurant either owned by refugees or which hires refugees. The idea is to support these businesses, to have cross-cultural conversations, and to form new friendships. This month we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho 88, which is owned by several people who were Vietnamese refugees. I was nervous about everything leading up to the event, but it ended up turning out very well. We had wonderful conversations, lots of laughter, and representatives from 5 different countries.

To end, these are some of the wonderful pictures my dad took this weekend: 

Lori and I watching the sunset at Gates Pass. 

Sunset at Gates Pass, looking east 

My dad and me after the food workshop.