Thursday we celebrated our first Thanksgiving without blood relatives. I say "blood" because we celebrated with our dear friends who have become our extended family. It was a beautiful time. However, we did miss our family back home.
On Friday, we recreated another turkey meal adorned with green bean casserole, home-made mashed potatoes, pumpkin cupcakes and chicken wings for Mike's Indonesian crew members. A bunch of them came, enjoyed an all-American meal and shared their beautiful laughter with us. I tried several times to speak (and botched) Bahasa Indonesia with them and was received pretty well (I think they appreciated the effort?). It was one of those moments where I realized that we are here to teach them and they are here to teach us-- they learnt about our cultural traditions and we are always learning about theirs. An ongoing benediction in our lives.
The togetherness of friends via events is endless and this month was Movember. Movember is a charity for men's health. It focuses not only on prostate and testicular cancer awareness but mental health, as well. So the men got the opportunity to grow mustaches for the entire month as part of the fundraising efforts (there were some unique looking 'stashes, I must say). This Saturday we celebrated Movember by a night of generous donations, auction items and card-playing. It was an awesome night that brought in roughly $10,000.00 (unmatched). I not only got to help a little bit but was able to thank everyone who came to support the cause and thank our friends who put it together but I was able to share my dad's story of his battle with cancer. He is a true inspiration, beacon of strength and stronger than me on my good days. It was an awesome night. I am very proud of my dad and this community's generosity! To conclude the evening, I got to shave Mike's mustache off-- PHEW.
As I said the holiday season has really made it's appearance. We have been able to attend two Christmas concerts so far. The first was a choir and orchestra that were absolutely gifted and tonight, the kids and I joined our friends to see their daughter dance as an angel. I was so filled with emotion! The concerts brought me such humility and happiness!
Soon everyone will be leaving again for holiday and I am very excited about this week as I will get to go caroling and join the ladies for a Christmas exchange before the mass departure. However, it's these occasions that hit me hard and make me miss my family back home.
We have only 21 days until we go on our next trip and this time it will be on two separate islands in Indonesia. Christmas in Yogyakarta and New Year's in Bali. Very exciting but another milestone-- our first Christmas away from family.
As always, to be continued...
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