Thanksgiving

Last year I worked on Thanksgiving Day. This year I decided to take the day off and prepare a meal for my host family. The day was wonderful. My host sister and mother work at the same school. Nunu, my sister, is a first year teacher of Azerbaijan language and literature. Yesterday, she taught an open lesson that was observed by the other teachers and a curriculum specialist from the local school district. Of course, her class was marvelous. Normally, Nunu teaches in the morning and my mother teaches in the afternoon, but because of this open lesson they were both gone most of the day.

So, I had the house pretty much to myself all day. I slept in a little later than usual, then got up, prepared my coffee and began my cooking. I had decided to make sweet rolls with grated orange filling, apple crisp and a roasted turkey. I started with the cinnamon rolls and then moved on to the apple crisp. In between, I was able to take a shower and get a load of laundry done. The shower was a little odd, because the hot water heater kept turning on and off due to the water pressure changing. (In order for the gas to fire on the instant hot water heater, the water pressure has to be strong enough) I just used cold water for the laundry so no problem there.

Around three o'clock, someone started banging on the door. My room is in the back of the house so I tried to ignore it. I wasn't sure if the knocking was at the gate or the door, but who ever was out there wasn't looking for me. Finally, I got up and went to the door. It was one of the students Nunu tutors at home. I managed to tell him that she wasn't home and sent him on his way. At 3:30 to more students showed up. I sent them off and then got a call to have them come in and wait. Pretty much the only disruption to my day. My Azeri is not terribly good and I really didn't know where Nunu was, so it was a little comical. However, I am usually able to get my point across and understand based on circumstances.

Nunu and my mother showed up pretty much as the rolls were coming out of the oven. They were a little too soft for my mother, so I put them back in for a bit. I asked when I should have dinner ready and was told 7:30. I was also scolded because I bought onions and potatoes for dinner and of course, there are large bags of each in the cellar. I was told that "they took offense" A minor rebuke. Dinner was done at 7:30 but Nunu was still tutoring so we waited until she was done. In the end, dinner was a success. Can't really go wrong with chicken and potatoes, but you never know.

In spirit of the holiday, we said what we were thankful for. A lovely day.