Thank you for… a delicious feast with great people. Despite the nearest grocery store being 8+hrs away, the owners of the safari camp where we’re staying managed to pull together all of the fixings for a real American-style Thanksgiving feast: turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green beans and carrots, yummy butternut squash (made like mashed potatoes with garlic). When we first arrived in Africa (2 months ago!) I had imagined a feast like this, and bought the requisite ingredients (including a $17 box of Stovetop) while we were in Kampala. Since our stuff is still awaiting clearance, however, I had written a true Thanksgiving feast off as an unattainable dream. But to be presented with an excellent (and mostly traditional) meal, I was moved to tears. …and the most exciting part was that I wasn’t the only one excited about the food. There were 9 of us at the feast, and even for the 4 people who were experiencing their first Thanksgiving dinner, the idea of gathering around a big table and celebrating the full bounties of a harvest (rather than just rice and beans) was something appreciated by all. I think I have a much better appreciation now for how the pilgrims must have felt.
Thank you for… an opportunity to be back in the kitchen. Francis and I wanted to contribute in some way to the meal, and so were responsible for dessert. Given the limited availability of anything but the very basics (sugar, flour, butter), we opted to use walnuts and powdered sugar we had purchased in Juba (on a whim—thank you, Lord!) to make Mexican Wedding Cookies. Francis’ tools came to the rescue when we realized that the oven was calibrated using gas marks, not temperature, so he pulled out his multimeter and thermocouple to find the gas mark roughly equal to 350F. Against all odds, the cookies turned out pretty good (people even requested permission to take leftovers home). Despite being without a stove for 2 months, I have not forgotten how fun it is to be in the kitchen especially with such an able co-chef; I even have a soft-spot for doing the dishes afterward.
Thank you for…a growing family. Calm down, Mom; there’S no bun in the oven. However, the Mills family now includes a four-legged friend—Morty, or, more formally, Mortise the Tortoise.
Since we arrived, the locals have been wondering when we’d get a goat, and the expats have been trying to pawn off dogs on us. We’ve even had someone offer to sell us a monkey (very sad). Francis and I aren’t really pet people, but on a whim I told one of his workers that I might be able to tolerate something like a turtle. Well, lo and behold, two days later, Stephen had managed to find someone who had a bed-pillow-sized leopard tortoise to sell us. Though tortoises are pretty common in our part of Sudan, they rarely get this big, often ending up on someone’s dinner plate when they are palm-sized. Not being a tortoise expert, I really don’t have any idea how old Morty is, but he’s certainly seen his fair share of the world. As you might expect, he’s been a little shy, but he’s gradually coming out of his shell, now feeling comfortable enough to keep his eyes on us, rather than completely hiding. After some internet research, I’ve learned that leopard tortoises like grass and aloes (neither of which are terribly abundant yet on our compound), and so we’ve been supplementing his grazing diet with cabbage leaves. I also give him a big dish of water each day which he’s gradually realizing is safe to drink. While we’re gone in Sudan, I’ve arranged to have my gardener care for him, promising him a bonus when I return if both the garden and tortoise are healthy and happy. I think he thinks I’m a little crazy…PS. A very random note, but I always forget to mention: Dad, you’d love East Africa—they have toothpicks on every table and even serve them to you as part of your cutlery packet on airplanes!
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