Turkey in Tanzania?

Since I arrived in July, one thing that has been hard to adjust to is the lack of the holidays that I love to celebrate. Halloween? Hakuna. Thanksgiving? Hakuna. Ok. Those are pretty much the only two holidays I really celebrate. I mean Christmas to an extent, but I am sure here it is probably just a religious holiday and not a cultural event like it is in the states, and I only really celebrate the cultural aspect of Christmas.

Well last weekend we had an exciting event, us Peace Corps folks. A random, but absolutely amazing invitation from a very Funke family (their last name is Funke, pronounced “funky”) was extended to our fabulous PCVs in Shinyanga to spend Thanksgiving with their family. They promised us all the classic fixings like mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and get this- Turkey!

Now, I haven’t had a bite of turkey in almost six whole months, so my interest was piqued for sure. There is simply not turkey in Tanzania. Not that I have seen, anyways. Plenty of chicken, sure. Duck? You better believe it. There is ngombe na nguruwe na mbuzi Oh my! Alas, there is no turkey in sight, so the very mention of turkey and my mouth is watering- It is apparently my favorite meat. Who knew? So of course I am going to go to a stranger’s house for Thanksgiving!

Me and a few new friends decided “let’s make a weekend out of this! We will head up to mwanza and stay for a few days and then on Saturday, head out to their site to have some amazing food.” So off we went to Mwanza!

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This trip was so amazing! We spent one day doing a bit of shopping, eating some american food like hamburgers and ice cream, and just walking around and exploring the city a bit (It was my first time there). Erin was a fabulous guide while the lovely Annie was off at an appointment and Tom was busy elsewhere! When we met up with them again towards the end of the day, we had some lovely conversations with new friends at  a restaurant Level 8. Then we had some urojo, a street food, for dinner and went to a karaoke night with some other volunteers from all over the world. I will spare you the video of me singing/screaming to All Star by Smash Mouth but it was a riot, let me tell you.

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The next day was a fabulous and luxurious pool day at Malaika Beach Resort. I swam like the whole day with Annie, Erin, and Tom. None of us got burned at all. How exciting is that. Ok… that was a lie. We all looked like lobsters the next day, but I blame Doxy (our malaria prophylaxis… speaking of which I forgot to take yesterday… and this morning…) That night, we had a fabulous dinner at Hotel Talapia where I got some of the famous samaki mbichi or fresh fish instead of the dried stuff that you get more inland. Then the next day we were off to meet the Funke family and join fellow PCVs Micah and Cate for our early Thanksgiving dinner.

Let me just say that this evening did not disappoint. We sang all the fun Frozen and Moana songs and of course acted out the movies with the princess Julia and her trusty big brother Michael! We had so much fun just dancing and playing all afternoon, boy was I pooped that evening! We watched the Macy’s Day Parade from last year and ate massive portions of all the Thanksgiving hits; then we had some pumpkin pie for desert while watching the Superbowl from 2012 (turns out the purple guys won. Who knew?). 

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The whole day felt like a Thanksgiving with my family back home. Sitting in the kitchen while grandma finishes cooking and grandpa works on his pies while the parade is on the TV. It reminded me of playing in the basement as a kid while waiting for dinner, making pillow forts with my cousins and watching Mr. Magoo’s A Christman Carol. I felt like I was back on the couch in the living room talking about my life with my aunts and uncles, snacking on doritos and store bought guacamole, a strange but missed combination of Grandma’s horderves she would put out for family gatherings. It was a different day for sure, but the feelings of home were the same.

I am so thankful for the experiences that I was able to have this past weekend. I made new friends and got closer with the friends I only recently made. I am so thankful to get this experience here in Tanzania. It is certainly an experience that I don’t think I ever truly thought that I would be having, but I am so greatful that I am. Here is to being here for almost 5 full months, here is to another 22 more!