As Thanksgiving rolled around, I was doing my best to keep my expectations low and not think about it too much. After all, this year there wouldn’t be any Macy’s Parade to watch with my sisters. No chocolate covered turkeys from Aunt Maribeth or listening to my Dad try to convince my Mom that this year we really should deep-fry a turducken. And definitely no trying to rouse myself out of bed at 6 AM on a cold Wisconsin morning to go shopping with Aunt Chris on Black Friday. (Well I’ve never actually done that, but I always tell myself I’m going to this year, haha) However, despite missing out on these and most of my other Thanksgiving traditions, I was pleasantly surprised that it still felt like the real deal.
This year, Thanksgiving fell a couple of days before a huge Muslim holiday called Tabaski (which I will write plenty more about later). So, to make it easier for everyone to get back to site on time to celebrate Tabaski with their families, we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner at our regional house a day early (on the 25th). I left site and headed up to Kaolack a few days beforehand to relax and hang out with all of the other volunteers. It was a nice opportunity for everyone to take a mini-vacation from life at site; and to find out how the first month on our own went for everyone in my stage.
I wish I could say I had a hand in preparing our Thanksgiving dinner, but not being the most talented person in the kitchen, my many offers to help were kindly decline. Plus, some of the people in our region are truly excellent cooks and they had everything well in hand. So I did a few dishes, collected the money (accountant, ha) and did my best to stay out of their way. And major kudos to the chefs because it was honestly one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I’ve ever had. (In no doubt partially do to the fact that anything resembling American food is like the best thing that’s ever happened to me these days)
All told, our delicious Thanksgiving feast for about 22 people cost 3,200 CFA per person. Which is roughly the equivalent of $7. And this is what that lovely price got us (and everything was made from scratch!):
- 3 turkeys (2 were grilled/roasted and 1 deep fried)
- Garlic mashed potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Cranberries (courtesy of a care package from someone’s family in the States)
- Millet bread
- This was probably the biggest hit of the whole meal. Kenny, our “restaurant manager” extraordinaire, had wanted to make cornbread, but wasn’t able to find any cornmeal at the market. So he substituted millet and tweaked the recipe a little…DELICIOUS!
- Vegetable soup
- Dinner rolls
- Macaroni and cheese
- Crudite platter
- And let me tell you how rare a treat it is to encounter a vegetable in this country that hasn’t been boiled for upwards of two hours, minimum
- Pineapple upside down cake
- Pumpkin loaf
- Apple crisp
- Peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting
- Snickerdoodles
And I’m probably forgetting a few things, but suffice it to say that it was amazingly tasty and, in time honored Thanksgiving tradition, I ate until I couldn’t possible eat anymore. Who would’ve thought you could find all of that delicious food in Senegal?!
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