Dia de Gracias (Thanksgiving)

Many of you have been asking if they celebrate Thanksgiving here in Mexico and the answer is no. It's not a national holiday like it is in the U.S. BUT ... because of the American staff here, Niños de Mexico celebrates Thanksgiving. This year, we decided to do a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all of the institution - 120 people. Each of the four houses was responsible for bringing a turkey and another side dish. My house was supposed to bring the green bean casserole; Erin and I took the lead on that. Making green bean casserole, a simple staple of a Thanksgiving dinner, wasn't as easy here. First of all, canned green beans are hard to find so we had to buy fresh green beans and then cut them up. Second of all, french fried onions (the best part of the whole thing) don't exist here so we had to make them ourselves. And third of all, we were making enough to feed 120 people. Thankfully, there were many hands to help cut all the green beans and breading onions didn't take as long as we originally thought. It turned out pretty delicious, if I do say so myself!

Our Thanksgiving meal was held at Bethel, the boys home that is 20 minutes away from where I live. They have a nice big dining room area, perfect for a large group. Erin and I arrived early to set up the scavenger hunt. We divided the kids (and the adults who wanted to participate) into 4 teams and each team had a specific color and letters to find. Then they had to work together with the other 3 teams at the end to figure out the message - "Gracias a Dios por todas las bendiciones" (Thank you God for all of your blessings). It was absolutely crazy getting everyone organized for the activity, but once it got started, they really seemed to enjoy it. After the scavenger hunt, one of the American staff gave a brief presentation on Thanksgiving and then it was time to eat. The 4 of us American staff served everyone else. The food was delicious! In typical Thanksgiving tradition, I ate way too much.

Once everyone had eaten their fill of turkey and mashed potatoes, we headed outside to play soccer and volleyball. No football. This is Mexico. One of the most entertaining parts of the night was the spontaneous dance party that broke out among some of the younger kids. A bunch of us gathered around in the gazebo and watched the kids bust a move. It was probably the hardest I've laughed in awhile as I watched them "break dance" and strut their stuff. Some of them really impressed me. Later after the dance circle had broken up, I looked over at the gazebo to see the kindergarten kids slow dancing together. It was absolutely precious!

I guess I lied when I said we didn't play football ...

At some point during the night, someone came up with the idea to pick a person to tackle. Once the 'target' was successfully on the ground, kids would come running and pile on. I think I ended up on the bottom 3 times and joined in the dog pile several other times. I should probably mention that it wasn't just the kids participating in this, but also some of the house parents! It was a fun, painful game. The bruises were worth it though!

It was definitely different and sad not to be with my family on Thanksgiving, but as I looked around on Thursday at all of the house parents and kids, I realized something. God has blessed me with amazing family and friends, not just in the U.S., but also in Mexico. For that, I am truly grateful. More than ever, I am confident that I am right where He wants me, showing His love to these precious children.