My Thanksgiving Shower*

Well, I arrived in Ghana safe and sound, and after sleeping away most of the week (jet-lag and malaria-prophylactics is a killer combination) I celebrated Thanksgiving with Mus's family. We meant to take pictures, but unfortunately, we left the camera in our hotel room, so you'll have to be satisfied with my stunningly witty verbal account.

Obviously, Ghanaians don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But I talked it over with Mus, and we were going to (again) give it our all to try to have a yummy and somewhat traditional Thanksgiving. (Last year's attempt involved chicken and wild rice- good in theory but bad in application when one doesn't know how to cook wild rice and the whole family ends up chewing on crunchy grains).

The biggest problem was the turkey. I didn't realize it would be a problem, because I have seen turkeys roaming around in certain parts of Ghana. But apparently, they don't do well this far south, and so it was hard to find. Mus's mom went out and bought a "fresh" one (AKA still breathing) and within a couple hours of it's last breath, it was on the grill. The dang bird was killer expensive, but Mus was really excited about having a traditional American Thanksgiving, which was so sweet, and it was so fun who cares. He covered the bird with a thick paste of ginger and garlic, and then grilled it to perfection! Yum! Mus's mom made mashed yam (they have potatoes here but they are expensive and often taste old, since they are imported.) And I boiled cauliflower and green beans, and fried cornflakes to put on top of the veggies (my mom's tradition). To top it off, we had non-alcoholic sparkling cider (AKA Kid's Wine, another Malsack Thanksgiving staple) and an amazing bar of rich Ghanaian chocolate.

We spent the whole day outside, cooking and chatting and eating. Unfortunately, it was just me, Mus's mom, and Mus; Mus's sister had to work late and his father is staying their centenarian grandmother, who recently took a spill and is okay but badly bruised.

But, to end on a high note- the non-alcoholic wine flowed freely (apparently Mus's mom is a huge fan, who knew?) and fun was had by all.

*One day I was explaining wedding/baby showers to Mus, which are a foreign concept here. He took it to mean that all parties that are specifically centered around celebrating one person are "showers." So, for example, when my family threw a Christmas celebration in September just for me since I would be gone by December, he called it my "Christmas Shower." As this Thanksgiving was for my benefit, it is also my shower.