Thankful

One of the things I love about Thanksgiving is traditions. When I was young the tradition always included watching the Macy's Day parade and waiting for Santa Claus. When I was in college, the tradition included a late Wednesday night out with old high school friends and then barely getting up in time to see Santa. For at least the past 10 or so years, the tradition has been to wake up early and run a turkey trot - usually getting home in time to catch the end of the parade. The trot has either been a half marathon in Atlanta or a 10k around the beautiful U of R, or just a short run on the sea wall in Fiji. This year, Margot and I ran 15 kilometers out and around Suva. It was the perfect start to my Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for Margot's friendship and Fiji scenery and for my health - a body that even though it's aging can carry me that far. It was the perfect start to a beautiful day.

After our run, we had a lovely champagne French brunch with the embassy folks. It was so good! It was also nice to mingle with all of the new faces of the embassy. We are now the folks that have been here the longest (along with one other Peace Corps friend) so the embassy crowd is all new to me. It's nice being with other Americans on our holiday.

After brunch, Warren and I came home (kids at school) and prepared our final dishes for a huge Thanksgiving feast at Margot's home. Once the kids got of the bus, we all went over for such a special evening full of Americans, Australians, Kiwis, and Belgians. Our kids were the only "full bred" Americans there as all the other kids have one parent from the States and one from somewhere else. All of these kids have lived outside of the States for the majority (or all) of their lives, but still find a connection to the American culture. I think being away made us feel even more connected to our shared culture and grateful for our friendships and adventures overseas.

We started the night out on the patio with a few apps and drinks. We all wrote down what we are grateful for and then pulled someone else's paper out of a basket and stood in a circle reading our gratitudes before the feast. I loved that tradition and want to make it our own from this point forward.

After dinner, Maia, one of the oldest kids sat everyone down and told them the true history of Thanksgiving. She didn't leave out any of the brutal details, including the mistreatment of Native Americans and the massacres that occurred. I don't even know if my own kids knew the glossed over version of the story, but now they know it all. Maia made sure to include that now we think of Thanksgiving as a day to be grateful for our family, friends, health, etc....so while the history is known, the kids also learned how integral this day is to our gratefulness.

Next, the skit.... I loved this skit! In preparation, Maia told me that there wouldn't be costumes of course because they didn't want to appropriate any cultures. At one point in the practice of the skit, "Native Americans on the left" was overheard. We all waited in anticipation. They didn't disappoint. Thirteen kids aged 5 to 17 pulled off the most beautiful, thoughtful, recognition of the past and honor of the present traditions. The parents were proud.

Finally, we had dessert. Pumpkin pie, rum balls, pecan pie, apple turnovers, homemade icecream - we had it all and ate it all! Oh my goodness, the tradition of eating until I feel sick remained. Too much food - but I don't regret any of it. It was a perfect evening. I went home feeling full and happy. So thankful for this life we live.

Friday, we woke up early and went to Leleuvia for one final weekend in 2017. It was nearly perfect! I love that place. Nic and Tricia and kids went along too. We laughed, star-gazed, talked, swam, played games, built sandcastles, and soaked in the sun and views all weekend. The only bad thing (and it was really bad) was in that first hour I was there, I decided to go for a good, long swim. I am usually a little scared to swim in the ocean alone, but this time I was feeling so good. I loved it! Just when I was thinking, "I love this. I am not even scared. I don't want to stop.", right then I felt the most intense stinging/burning sensation on my arm. I immediately popped my arm out of the water and felt the burn slide down the back of me and into my arm pit. It hurt SO badly! I started swimming as fast as I could back to shore (not a short swim) while massaging my arm under the water the whole time. I never saw what hit me, but damn, it hurt. I could only swim using my legs because I didn't even think I could move my arm.

I rushed out of the water and ran towards the dive shop, shaking. They told me to go rinse in cool water and go to the front desk for first aid. I did and couldn't stop shaking the whole time. It was just getting worse! I finally made it over to the shop and they gave me some dilo oil (healing oil) to put on it. It made it feel worse. At this point, Warren came over and I called Margot who seems to know about these sort of things and she told me to get the oil off and get some vinegar. Warren rushed inside to get the vinegar and that seemed to help just a little bit. I then took a hot shower which definitely felt comforting, but the hot water ran out within 5 minutes. I just sat there again in so much pain. Everyone else went for a snorkel and I laid in a hammock, feeling sick from all of it. I tried vinegar again and several "hot" showers and eventually the pain lessened. The next day it was really swollen and now five days later it is still red and achy. I cannot even work out which is driving me mad because it hurts. I have swam, but even when I swim my muscle feels heavy. Today it really has felt better and I didn't even take Advil today, so there is promise for a better future for my arm ahead. I have gone to the doctor and it's just going to take some time. Unfortunately, I think I'm just really sensitive to jelly fish. Later in the weekend there were many blue bottles around, so that's probably what got me. Man, wonder what it means that just when I lost my fear, I get stung?! At least I survived it! (See pics of sting below)