Scotland, Turkey, and Mates! Must be Thanksgiving

When I first arrived in the UK, the first travel plans I made was figuring out what on earth I was going to do for Thanksgiving. It was decided at our London Orientation that as many of the American volunteers as possible and the two English girls we adopted would all head to Scotland, Edinburgh to be exact, for the famous American holiday of Thanksgiving. So after months of planning, more emails than I care to think about, the time finally arrived; my first ever Thanksgiving without my folks; and I was surprisingly calm.

I left Birmingham on Wednesday, and arrived in lovely Edinburgh. Nothing to do, but enjoy seeing a new city for now....

Since there were eight Americans and the two English girls, in three houses, we were all split up into teams. For some reason, there were two teams with four people, and one team with two. Of course I ended up on the two people team, and we were dubbed Team Clueless. We had all been assigned foods we were supposed to cook. Our assimgient if we chose to acept it, was a turkey (everyone had to cook a turkey), mac and cheese, a green beans casserole, and chocolate chip cookies. No problems here ...oh wait neither Andy nor I know how to cook. Thank goodness for my mum who gave us the how tos long distance. So Thursday morning, Andy and I were up and ready to go for our first ever Thanksgiving cooking adventure. Off to Sommerfields we went, to buy ingredients. We came home, cleaned our lovely 8lb turkey, put random spices and stuff on it, and popped it into the oven. We then proceeded to do the same thing with the mac and cheese, green beans, and cookies. No worries, a very relaxing cooking day. Until about half past two in the afternoon when we pulled the turkey out and it looked a paler shade of pale. We were to be ready to go in an hour, uh oh what do we do... call mum of course. Who then saved the day long distance. (She has been investing in calling cards). Phew! After the right Rx the turkey not only turned golden brown but we even managed to package everything up. All we had to do now was to carry all of this food onto the bus and into the city centre of Edinburgh. Easier said than done. Trust me.

We set off after packing all the food into back packs, and a huge Lands End Duffel bag, with me carrying the turkey. We set off for the bus. As we were walking down the street the bus passed us. All of a sudden I realized Andy was running. So what do I do but run also! Clutching the turkey for dear life. Because all I could imagine was the turkey flying out of my hands, and me following it. I guess the bus driver took pity on us, so he pulled over and allowed us to get on. Now we just needed to get to Mark's flat safe and sound.

Team Clueless arrived in style with all the food intact, even though all the others were having plenty of doubts about our success. The food was lovely, we had more than enough for the 30 folks who joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. They were a group of volunteers, students, and co workers who came to celebrate this day of thanks. And I was pleased to hear comments such as "I really enjoyed eating authentic American food, I thought you folks only ate McDonald's" . Some of the Scotsmen were a bit leery of the pumpkin pie, but everything turned out way better than I could ever imagine. It was truly an amazing day, and it made not being at home with my family very bearable.

Giving thanks, sharing this day with others, and working to prepare this meal which is so special, that too in a forgien country, was truly a feeling that I am glad I had a chance to experience and will cherish always. Of course I missed being at home in Delaware, but I wouldn't have traded this Thanksgiving for the world.

It is traditional for my family to give thanks for the things that have happened to us in the past year, so as always I will now share mine. I am thankful for having two wonderful parents who have supported me through thick and thin, my old friends who have managed to make me feel at home in a country so far away with loads of emails, for all the new friends I have made who are here and spread throughout the world, for working with all the great staff of the West Bromwich YMCA, and the residents who give meaning to all of this and for all those angel-strangers whose prayers and support sustain me, and my many many more blessings.

Cheers and I hope everyone had a great 2006 Thanksgiving!

To see pics of Thanksgiving please click the link!

Pondering life, growing up, and of course GO DEMS!!!!!!!

About a week ago, I had another roller coaster experience. I realized that I have had a few of them since I have been in England, and I ponder life more than I have ever before.

One of the residents was arrested and I witnessed him being lead away in handcuffs. It sucked; I had this feeling of dread and helplessness. This is one of the residents that I have grown to know over the past few weeks, and he really is a great guy. As he was escorted out the staff and I just watched. It was surprising that no one accompanied him (I really felt that someone should go with him, support him, make him realize he wasn't alone in this), or act in a role of advocate. We know the police dont just come and take people away for no reason, they had to have cause. After all this is no land of coups, it is England. Neverteless I was relieved later when I saw him after he had been questioned and released. He was doing the tough nonchalant thing and was surprised that I cared enough to be worried as to what would happen now.

Of course in my head this brought up the numerous discussions I had received at induction in the States, London, and at West Brom about "boundaries". What my place was here, and what I could really do in these situations. After a conversation with my supervisor I realized its good that I felt something, becuase the reason I am here is to build relationships with the residents, its just a matter of not allowing those emotions to take over.

But lots of questions were still unanswered. Do we judge, do we forgive, do we truly practice "love thy neighbor"? Seems we have to be cautious. So how do we make change, yet maintain a balance, and practice social justice?

In the meantime, elections approached in the US consuming my thoughts. I just can't help myself I am a political geek. I have spent most of my life so far, working towards making a career for myself in politics. I had the opportunity to work on a grass roots campaign as a manager in DC for the DNC, going on to a Presidential Coordinated Campaign, and then to working for a U.S Senator. All of which left me feeling very unfulfilled at times. But also giving me great experiences, drive, focus, and the chance to work with and meet some of the most amazing people ever. But like I said it didn't feel right. So I accepted the call to do a year of service; to find myself, be on a journey within, to aid others, and take a step back.

When I arrived in England I wasn't quite sure why, I was here, and what I came to find, but slowly I have started to settle into my life, make headway with my work, and really get to know the residents, and feel like I can make a difference in this place. And I am beginning to love my work here, and the residents that I am working with. Everyday I see a bit more of those relationships building, and its wonderful! But for what purpose, I don't really know yet, but that doesn't always matter does it? If I am open in heart and mind the purpose will become evident.

All was beginning to look good in England, but on Monday I had this awful sinking feeling of homesickness, and sluggishness that I just couldn't shake. Maybe it was because I knew that at home most of the people I know and had worked with were gearing up for what would be one of the most important mid term elections in history. Their adrenaline would be flowing, I missed the scent of "battle"?

On Tuesday morning I woke up with a buzz, everyone at the YMCA was subjected to hearing me speak about the US elections and what could happen. How on earth was I going to manage to stay up to watch the numbers come in? I had sent emails to my friends on campaigns, and even a message to my former boss the Senator. I felt disconnected knowing that no matter how hard I tried, this year 2006, I would just be an observer from the sidelines.

Finally at about midnight the BBC news started to report, I watched as Ohio elected a new Democratic Senator and Pennsylvania elected another new Senator Bob Casey, and finally I saw that Delaware Senator Tom Carper would be keeping his seat for another six years. Hooray! By this time it was nearly 2:00 am, and I knew I needed to put myself to bed.

Wednesday morning arrived, and I had to struggle through working reception, not because I was sleepy, but because I couldn't stand not knowing what the results were. Finally it was time to break and I literally ran home, and was greeted by the news that Nancy Pelosi may become the first woman Speaker of the House and I knew we had done it, the Dem's finally took back the House. We had elected our first Muslim Congressman, our second black Governor (in Massachusetts) since Reconstruction, created a possible dynasty in Delaware with Beau Biden winning the position of Attorney General. Then I watched Senator Tom Carper give his victory speech with my former colleagues in the background. I felt such a sense of pride. America is taking steps forward, we are on the brink of huge changes, and we are setting the stage for the 2008 Presidential Election. As the week went on, the Dems took the Senate and Donald Rumsfeld stepped down, it was def turning into quite the eventful week.

No time for messing up. Now the soul searching. This is what I have been waiting for, and here I am in England, far away from the changes that have started to occur. Did I make the right choice? After all don't elected officials claim to serve constituents? Will my service at a global level count? Is it after all a calling for servant leadership? Will this path take me to beoming a better person? Time for me to ponder some more, like I am not doing enough of that already. Living each day is another learning..... :-)

GO DEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who needs Halloween, when you have Bon Fire Night!

Well, needless to say Halloween came and went without me so much as noticing. Other than an attempt at a fancy dress party in London (which was cancelled), and a few emails wishing me a Happy Halloween from mates back in the States. Well there, was a brief moment on the Saturday before Halloween where I was like slightly bummed and a bit nostalgic, wow, if I was at home right now I would be on the faboulous Halloween Loop, which to me is one of the premier events Wilmington, Delaware has to offer. I found that Halloween isn't very big here, trick or treating is a new idea that has only just begun and the Christian community frowns on the idea of the celebration, viewing it as Demonic. I actually was warned not to really mention Halloween at all, and the few people I did speak to about it raised their eyebrows when I said I grew up attending Halloween Parties held every year at my Church, but I digress.

Here in the lovely United Kingdom, we have something much better. We have the 5th of November aka Bonfire Night. This is a night celebrated all over the UK, which includes more fireworks than the 4th of July and huge bonfires everywhere from public parks to peoples home gardens. Why may you ask is there a bonfire night? Well way back in the day, a man by the name of Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up the British Parliament and failed. Since then every year on the 5th of November the UK celebrates his failure, by burning him in effigy in Bonfires, a bit barbaric, I know but hey, no judging, just joining in on the fun. For more of the history of Bonfire Night check out this link.

Since Bonfire night fell on a Sunday this year, there was twice the fun. Many places in the Birmingham area had bonfire celebrations on Saturday as well as Sunday. So, on Saturday (November 4th) night I had the opportunity to attend the Bonfire Fayre in West Brom. Where there was a HUGE bonfire, lots of rides, a laser show, fun music, and of course loads and loads of fireworks. And when I say loads of fireworks I mean that for the past two days, as soon as it got dark outside you heard the continuous popping of fireworks.

All I can say, after a rough week (I will write more about that later), it was a great way to finish it off. I enjoyed my first English Bonfire night a lot.

Cheers!