Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. My two main topics today will be food and thanking.

Last week there was a feast honoring an elder who died last year. It was held at the school as most events here are. Pretty much everyone in the village came and most of them brought food. There was a line of tables all along one wall and around the corner of the gym. Some of the food was what you would consider the usuals; mashed potatoes, salad, chicken, jell-o, etc. However most of it was local. I personally only ate two new things both of them coming from the same animal. Two different types of walrus meat-one was cooked and even had a little fur still on it and the other was a little chunk of raw kidney. I tried kidney the other day but spit it out. This time I actually ate it-just a bite though. There was a plate of hard-boiled eggs, nothing out of the ordinary there, but wait, these were not your ordinary eggs. We had a choice between sea gull or goose. Having watched the Cubs all year, I'm kind of used to goose eggs so I opted for the sea gull. They were all gone when I got to the plate so I took a goose. First thing-they're big! Second thing-I cracked it open and out oozed a real live dead goose. When the locals go searching for food they take any egg they can find. I was told it was treat and I should still eat it. I didn't.

Some of the other foods I didn't eat-kelp, fish eggs, beluga whale. I wanted whale but that was also all gone when I got to it. There were plates full of various fish and fowl but I didn't know what anything was so I just skipped it. Overall it was pretty cool. Everyone sat on the floor which is common around here. Most of the serving dishes didn't have utensils; people just reached in and grabbed or ripped off what they wanted. Those of you who know me well, know that is very difficult for me; but you know what they say, "when in Chefornak, do what the Chefornakians do."

Today was our village Thanksgiving feast. Kind of the same thing in some ways, different in others. It was during the school day and the whole village was invited. This time we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, regular Thanksgiving staples. The only thing missing was the pumpkin pie. Anyone that can get one here for me and have it still be edible will be greatly rewarded.

On Thursday the teachers are all getting together for our Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to it but it's also a little tough not seeing my family.

I also wanted to send out a couple of "thank yous." First to anyone who is reading this, thanks for reading. People back home that have run errands for me and taken care of my house; mom, Jason, Glor, Becky, Zach, Mandy, Catie I couldn't be doing this without you. A huge thank you to the people who have sent unsolicited boxes/packages. You can't imagine how good it feels to hear Nicole, the postmaster say "Tom, you have a box at the post office" when I wasn't expecting anything. Thank you; Karen and Dan, Uncle Ed and Aunt Elaine, Eydie and Tim from Osco, Mom. I hope I didn't miss anybody.

Quyana