Gobble gobble.

I just spent my first thanksgiving away from home, but I was surrounded by family. The PCVs in the Guizhou province came together in the capital, Guiyang, for some old fashioned turkey, stuffing, and (God bless) pumpkin pie. What a great time.

I arrived on Friday after a longer-than-usual 7 hour bus ride. There was some hold up due to construction and a traffic accident, but I wasn't complaining because the seats on the bus were HUGE (think first class on an airplane) and there was an English movie, Transporter 3. I'm pretty sure that the bus drivers put on English movies just for the foreigners, but the other passengers seemed interested too, so no love lost.

After arriving, I indulged in some western food at Papa John's Restaurant with some friends from China 14. Very Delicious. It's difficult to figure out WHY you are serving in the Peace Corps while you are mowing down on fresh pizza; that's another topic for another post.

Back to T-day. SO EPIC. There's nothing like camaraderie when you're away from your family. The celebration was a great; the perfect mix of cooking and eating was achieved, and efforts in the kitchen segued into efforts on the plate. We even had a few expat families running around with little (and adorable) toddlers. I don't think a Thanksgiving is complete without a young family fussing about somewhere. Much love to those that were there.

After the dinner though, things got decidedly more young adult. A group of us ventured forth with turkey in our veins. We hit a local bar and had some Chinese beer while discussing the ins and outs of community development, global economics, and the pros of popping bottle tops on wooden tables. Very good.