How does someone celebrate Thanksgiving in Bolivia, if it's not a recognized holiday? And besides, it's summertime. Thanksgiving just isn't the same without fall colors, a brisk breeze, turkey, pumpkins, stories of Pilgrims and Native Americans, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Rockette's, Broadway, balloons, floats, Matt Lauer, Al Roker..) and all the family together. THIS IS WHAT THANKSGIVING IS ALL ABOUT!
isn't it?
Well not really. To be honest, on Thursday it was kind of easy to forget it was Thanksgiving. In the back of my mind it was tucked away, but I spent the day instead at a botanical garden. This for me, is the way that thanks and adoration for God naturally flows out of me. I love to be outside in observation of the wonderful work that God has created. He is truly the best artist. I got to appreciate His work in new ways that I have never seen before (because they don't exist on Long Island...) and with people that I am trying to build a community with.
Together, we rode in the back of a pick up to Santa Cruz. Once at the garden, I took a walk around to capture the scene on film while lunch began to be cooked. For my "Thanksgiving meal" I had: chorizo, yuca, rice, onion and pickles. More touring of the grounds and then we all went even farther east to the town of Cotoca.
Now, the interesting thing about this town is that every year, a pilgrimage is made from Santa Cruz to the curch in Cotoca. Why? Because, as legend has it, two men where chopping down woods one day in the area when suddenly, they cut down one and saw the Virgin Mary in the tree. From then she has been referred to as the Virgin on Cotoca. Although it wasn't time of the pilgrimage yet, and we didn't walk, we did see people preparing and vendors beginning to set up shop. It is a gorgeous church with beautiful fixtures and a nice plaza. Certainly fit to hold all the admirers the Virgin has.
It was a spectacular day to spend out in my "natural habitat". A little break to step back and just wonder at all that God has done for me and hope for all He can do through me. With this break and new setting, I also got to really examine what I am thankful for: for this wonderful opportunity to be in a new place with new people learning new skills to help others, for such a big and global Salesian family, for health, for shelter, for food [despite nutrition lacking, at least my tummy is full!], for such a caring family back home and for the wifi that allowed me to talk to my parents that evening (hahaha!)
I pray that everyday I can wake up with thankfulness of life in my heart and use that as fuel for everything that I do. Thanksgiving isn't just one day, it really is everyday
The following Sunday we were fortunate enough to have ALL the Bolivian SLMs congregate at our house to celebrate (plus another American volunteer from the States who works in Montero). We had a Thanksgiving/Advent/pool party. That's right- we got an inflatable baby pool. Everybody made a dish and together we were able to have chicken, stuffing, rolls, corn, mashies, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, squash pie, mississippi mud pudding and brownies! This was a SUPER blessing for sure. It doesn't matter if it was technically the wrong day/ season: we had a really awesome time!
PS: since this post, I have made the pilgrimage to Cotoca from Santa Cruz. I went with another family from Montero (mom, dad, daughter and two sons). It took us four hours to walk from the city to the church. Despite wearing sneakers, I ended up getting horrible blisters on both of my feet. The mother tried to tell me to join her and just take a micro part way through, but I soldiered on and walked the whole thing. Once in Cotoca I did buy new flip-flops though because the blisters popped and hurt terribly. But it was such a great experience to have so much time to talk with them and enjoy a tradition that many Bolivians do every year!
