We are just coming off of a 5-day Thanksgiving celebration and it was glorious! It started Wednesday morning with a birthday brunch for Justin at Brian's house. Chef Brian put his years of restaurant experience to use and cooked up Swedish meatballs, onion hamburgers with a Bernaise sauce and pesto-flavored grilled onions, and a vegetable tortellini soup. We rounded things out with a pan of fresh brownies -- which we had to completely finish off since we needed the pan later to make dinner. Along with a champagne toast, we also gifted Justin his own dombra (sort of a Kazakh guitar). He promises to learn a song before his next birthday.
That Wednesday night we were true to our word and we (*ahem* Ashlee) put together a magnificent feast: yams, greenbean casserole, chicken soup, biscuits, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, pecan squares, apple crisp, pumpkin pie, and freshly mulled cider. She was pretty much baking/cooking for two days. She swears she enjoyed it. It was a really great night -- lots of food, drink, and laughter all around, including what Ashlee has described as the funniest moment she has ever experienced in Mongolia: something to do with a goldfish and the game Apples to Apples.
On actual Thanksgiving day, after a breakfast of leftover apple crisp and pumpkin pie, we boarded a plane and headed to UB. Our official reason for going was to receive our annual flu shot, but since the shot only took about 15 minutes, we had the rest of the 5-day trip to ourselves to just hang out. On Saturday we gathered together with the majority of PCVs and office staff members to celebrate the holiday. It was an awesome feast -- there was so much food, including the best macaroni and cheese in the world! Sadly, Harry Potter was NOT playing in UB, but hopefully we can catch it next month.
We just got back to Olgii this morning -- right in the nick of time, too. A wicked dust storm has been raging all day. I'm sure that if it came a little earlier (or our plane left a little later) we would have gotten turned around. As it was, the last 15 minutes of our flight was a little dodgy. But yeah, we're back at site and ready to tackle December. We have already busted out our Christmas decorations, music, and holiday movies.
We've also already given each other our Christmas gifts: we're headed to Thailand in January! Woo hoo! We will actually be in Thailand for two weeks, but with some extra days in UB on either side of the trip, we will be away from Olgii for almost four weeks. Not too shabby, eh? We don't have an exact itinerary yet, but we are both envisioning lots of time on the beach and definitely lots of pad thai. Our good friends (another married couple here in Mongolia) will also be in Thailand around the same time, so we're planning to meet up with them.
Again, happy Thanksgiving! Here's some pictures.
Thanksgiving brunch at Brian's.
Note the Kazakh-ness of his table display with his selection of teas, bread, and veggies.
The old man blowing out his candles. Don't ask me why I'm making such a weird face. Maybe it's because I really wanted to eat the brownies. Or maybe it's because I just realized that I, too, will be entering my "late 20s" soon.
The Thanksgiving spread! Hmm, five people but three bottles of wine and one bottle of vodka...
Justin and his dombra.
This was right after the "funniest moment in Mongolia" that I mentioned earlier.
Monopoly Deal! It might not look like it, but we REALLY love playing this game.
Apple crisp for breakfast!
The Peace Corps feast in UB.
One of the highlights of the PC feast was the fact that the banquet hall had all these comfy easy chairs. There were hands-down the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat on in this country.
Decorating our little tree. Christmas, here we come!
1 comment:
Scottie, I just dont know how you will adapt back to California where you dont get 4 weeks off work every 4 weeks, but maybe 2 weeks off a year, haha, sounds like you guys are having the time of your life. Glad you are enjoying your time over there--DAD
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