Yes, I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Ukraine. I don’t know if they celebrated just because they have an American here or if they would have still had a day of thanks with or without me. Nonetheless, I was able to celebrate and show others what Thanksgiving is all about.

For the majority of those in attendance, it was their first Thanksgiving. Ukraine does not have their own Thanksgiving day so most people do not know what Thanksgiving day is all about. As the sole American, I felt compelled to give a small history lesson on where Thanksgiving day came from and why America celebrates it.

Giving a history lesson

Naturally there was food, but sadly, turkey is not all that common. We had the next best thing, roasted peppered pork. YUM!!! Tons of mashed potatoes and someone even made gravy. We north Americans take gravy for granted. You have no idea what a gift gravy is until you have to have meat without it! Trust me, the gravy was a blessing! There were lots of salads that I am not sure I can fully describe to you. There was a pomegranate, sour cream, beet, and chicken salad, a beet and fish salad, a potato salad and a normal green salad. Bread is always present at the table as well. For dessert we had butter tarts, cookies and little squares of pumpkin pie! Hooray for pumpkin pie and whipped cream!

Yumm! The red salad at the top is a fish and beet salad. The other red polka dot one is the beat, pomegranate, and chicken salad. Can you see how delicious the meat looks?

We fit a little more than 40 people into one room where we ate and proceeded with a small program. Some sang or read poetry. Since we had invited some of the seniors that we had been visiting, they also wanted to participate in our program. One gentleman played a chromatic button accordion, or Bayan in Russian, while the others sang. We had a great night of fellowship with everyone.

I have much to be thankful for. I am so blessed to have such a great team with amazing leaders. My friends have multiplied and are always encouraging.

The Canadians and Me