Thanksgiving in Rwanda!

A surprisingly great Thanksgiving.

My housemate Samantha and I decided to take off work to cook all day! Samantha started work on the Pumpkin pie from scratch a few days before and it was turning out lovely. We decided to do a goat roast as opposed to killing a live turkey (sorry Jacki we just didn't have time to do it! But don't worry meat and animal killing is handled in a very organic and natural way than it is in America, trust me!). We thought we would get 4 kgs since we had a 1/2 kg in our fridge and it seemed pretty small. When our cook came back with the 4 kgs we started dying laughing it was bigger than both of my thighs put together, for serious. Here is me with the goat (note: this is HALF of what we got we had to chop it in half I couldn't lift the other half).


So Samantha and I spent all day cooking with Christmas music blasting it was so much fun getting into an "American festive mood," it was even pretty chilly that day which we were thankful for to remind us of home :) I made the stuffing from scratch and it was actually pretty good! I also made mashed potatoes, green beans, and Sam and I both made the goat roast which was actually pretty tasty! We basted it with chicken broth, carrots, potatoes, ginger and a ton of spices and oil and let it soak all day and then the meat was pretty good besides the fact that goat in general is a pretty tough peice of meat. HERE'S THE BEST PART DESSERT: Samantha made pumpkin pie which was amazing and we made whipped cream, our guests brought pumpkin bread, apple crisp and ICE CREAM (VERY rare in Rwanda and very expensive!!). It was the most delicious meal I've had in Rwanda. Our thanksgiving meal with complete with 6 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Australian, 1 Canadian, and 1 Rwandan (we had to seriously limit our Rwandan friends otherwise it would be a party of 45 people, no joke).

Also, the most Rwandan part of the evening is that we were without electricity cooking all day long (we have gas stove thank goodness). This means we had to cook with headlamps to see the progress of our food in the oven with no thermometer which was hilarious. The lights came back on from 5-6 p.m. and then at 6:15 JUST as we were setting our food on the table to eat our meal the electricity went out again and we all burst out laughing - typical Rwanda. But we lit tons of candles and actually had a very magical feast all night , the ambiance without the lights made for an intimate dinner and we could actaully see the stars through our doors and windows along with the lit hills of the city (the hills that had electricity). ( also due to equator Rwanda is pitch dark at 6)


We got to go around the table and say what we were thankful for which is always my favorite part of Thanksgiving. All the non-Americans got really into it too and it was surprisngly a really emotional and vulnerable time, something that is rare for all of our housemates to share with each other! Then I convinced everyone at the table to sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness" a Weber family Thanksgiving tradition which was really great. Then one of our housemates who is a musician came out with her guitar and played her songs for us. You guys -- this girl is AMAZING we were all blown away by her talent and actually most of us were in tears from her songs. Her name is ASHLEY JONES look her up on iTunes -- her songs I like is "New York is like a boyfriend" "Daughter of" and "Selling out" and "Those Hills" (about Rwanda). She sang us some AMAZING songs about Rwanda since she's been here for 4 months songwriting that are not out on her EP yet. It was amazing b/c all of us are so connected to Rwanda in such a similar but unique different way so we all had this deep understanding of her Rwandan songs that she may not get from her audiences in the future. A really special time.

Anyway keep an eye out for Ashley Jones. She's a great musician. http://www.ashleyjonesmusic.com
This photo is Ashley playing songs for us once the feast was ended and we were in food coma.

A wonderful night of Thanksgiving in Rwanda! Very different and I definitely missed my family big time but I'm learning that the non-American thanksgivings are always the most memorable. I have no idea where I'll be next year for Thanksgiving but I hope it's with my family.

lots of love from Rwanda!! I'm SO thankful for all your support and love and prayers. You are all wonderful friends and family I couldn't ask for more in my relationships.

Rachel