"The Thanksgiving holiday is not just about assessing our material circumstances and being grateful for bounty. Thanksgiving is about the pause to process what we have been through and where we are now. The pilgrims were, obviously, thankful for the bounty of food they could prepare. But they were thankful for it precisely because they had been through so much. A bitter winter with ravenous disease and a severe lack of food and good shelter had taken a harsh toll on their small community. Greatly reduced in number, they had come through these and learned how to survive in their new environment. Though it had been extraordinarily tough, they recognized God’s care for them."
I want to do just that today - to pause to process and to reflect on where I am, exuding thanks particularly to those who helped me arrive to this moment. Of course, there are so many and my blog would be never-ending if I expressed thanks to EVERYone. So, I'll just focus on the last few months, through post-PC travels and since back home...
TRAVELS
"In this world, there are things you can only do alone and things you can only do with somebody else. It's important to combine the two in just the right amount."
-Haruki Murakami
Jen and Maya 'Maxwell.' I couldn't have done that trip through the wilds of lake Tanganyika, magnificent Malawi and Portuguese-speaking Mozambique without you two. Nor would I have wanted to embrace the magic alone. We met crazy and beautiful people and circumstances along the way and laughed our way through each of them. We made a good team. We budgeted (or Maya did for us:). We networked (you know it). We hitched rides that would have seemed plain stupid just a few years prior (can you make out Maya's toes amongst the goats?). 
We took care of each other, removing funzas as a team and even creating our own vocabulary for protection (usimHerman). We learned new things (slap shot anyone?). We gave and received feedback (tupo tried and true life skills teachers). We watched many a sun set and sun rise. I'll never forget the sunsets over what felt like the edge of the earth in Kigoma and then on Lake T as we speedboated. Thank you my sisters for the kumbukumbu.
And to all those who took us in or taught us something during our safari, I thank you. I wish I remembered all of your names. I certainly remember your faces. Here's an abbreviated version:Thank you Crane family for your unceasing TLC.
Thank you Herman and friends for treating us like queens and teaching us about the UN piloting-for-relief scene in Kigoma.
Thank you Hussein for sharing your love of nature and your friends, the chimps, with us.
Thank you MEMP. We love your house.
Thank you Mateso. I love your coconut beans. Usikate tamaa.
Thank you MV Liemba for the good times. Kicking it since 1913.
Thank you Catharina and Tim Flanagan for inspiring so many with your young spirits.Thank you Adrienne for reminding me at Kalambo Falls the worthiness of assisting kids dealt an unfair hand, who so desperately want to improve their lives. Jipe moyo.
Thank you Raos for the bike lifti to the Falls. Ulinichekesha.Thank you Moravian church for the life-saving lifti to the crossroads, for reminding me that everything is unfolding exactly as it should.
Thank you Doris of tiny guesti in Kasanga for asking me bafuni why some of us wazungu don't like to interact, and why we (Maya, Jen and I) were different. I'm sorry not everyone treats you with the dignity you deserve, dada yangu.
Thank you Mary for being the last mama I was able to sit with jikoni in TZ. Keep on sporting that Argentina shirt with pride, mpishi wetu.
Thank you Chanza, Uncle Mike and Ash for entertaining us in Sumbawanga. Usituchanza!
Thank you Deb McCracken for playing hostess for the mostest, including running guide up mountains. Karibu A'town.
Thank you Wiz, PCV star of Tumbuko.
Thank you Bright Tate, the one and only of the Ntchisi Forrest. You are the coolest.
Thank you sweet mama on the truck to Bright's site (in Mwansambo), who'd fallen on her face and lip. Thank you for reminding me how tough it is to be a woman in so many places. I pray you were helped and stitched in that hospital where we dropped you. I hope you were cared for like you've cared for so many.
Thank you PC-Malawi. Ya'll rock. Almost as much as PC-Tanzania :).
Thank you Nick and Lindsey Wood. Is there any couple more generous, gracious?
Thank you Scott, PCV of Mt. Mulanje. Your passion is infectious! Keep on sharing that magical mountain and all its wonder.
Thank you Tait Wade and Christina for making the world feel smaller.
Thank you lovely PC ladies of Vilankulo, for sharing your time and home with us.
Thank you Jit and gang for the good conversations and laughs in Tofu and Jo'burg.
Thank you CD and family for opening your home in Maputo wide open and for showering us with your love...and first world amenities :).
"The moment you love, you are unlimited" - Yogi Tea (imbibed at the Mushroom Farm in Malawi)
BACK HOME in the US of A
I want to thank...
My mom, who loves me unconditionally no matter how weird I feel or how weird I am!
My brother, who graciously hosted me on his couch for a week. Mr. responsable, he is on track, earning a solid living - someone in the family has to do it. :)
My uncles and aunts who support me even though I'm doing things a little differently.
Hanner and Corrie, my oldest and truest sisters in ATL. Thanks for being there, for understanding. Always.
Hilbean for being the best listener I know. Period.
K.B. for keeping things real.
Mwindaji kwa kunisikiliza, kunihimiza na kunifarijika kwa musiki yako.
Childers who makes me laugh. Hard.
Lee Lee for your sweet sweet spirit and empathy. And love for chocolate truffles.
Stef for your spontaneity and loyalty (which borders on insane sometimes). Tupo pamoja kabisa, from Mlalo to Marekani.
Scottie for your support and humor. You're still the guy who rapped all of "Baby Got Back" for our skit. We, I haven't forgotten.
Bomba Mbaya for being the best 'other' brother I could ask for. And for your chivalry, bila shaka.
Karen Blanchard for your guidance and support through the grueling thesis process. Thanks for sharing your light.
Barack Obama for bringing a new paradigm of servant leadership to our country and world.
And for Brattleboro and the SIT Graduate Institute, a place of great growth, whose students and learning environment helps so many become better.
"Somewhere are places where we have really been, dear spaces of our deeds and faces, scenes we remember as unchanging because there we changed."
- W.H. Auden
In closing this monologue of thanks, I thought I'd share some Inspiration from the Wood's refrigerator in Blantyre:
"May God bless us with discomfort at easy answer, half-truths and superficial relationships so that we may live from deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of God's creations so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with just enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done: to bring justice and kindness to all our children and neighbors."
Amen.
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