Well Fed.

I was really worried about missing Thanksgiving while I'd be here in Lith. It's just one of the best holidays. I love to give thanks for everything I have and to show people that I am grateful for them. And obviously, I love to eat turkey and mashed potatoes & gravy. I definitely didn't expect my host family to do anything about it since it's obviously just an American holiday. So, the girls & I planned to go to our favorite restaurant, Vapiano. It's the most delicious Italian restaurant I've been to! We planned to go Saturday for lunch, instead of trying to go on a school night. And because lunch there is cheaper. And that was to be our Thanksgiving. Well, our host mom got a call from her sister-in-law and was told that she had bought a 10 kilo turkey or something and it was just too big for only her and her small family. So she invited our whole family over for dinner that night along with some of her friends from Amsterdam. We were so excited! We were going to be eating turkey ON Thanksgiving IN Lithuania. What could be cooler? We get there that evening, walk in the house and are immediately absorbed into the smells of Thanksgiving. The table was spectacular! It was all set and ready when we got there, each plate filled with turkey, potatoes & carrots. In the middle of the table was salad, cranberry sauce (best I've ever tasted) and something similar to Greek Tzatziki sauce. We ate until we were beyond full topping the evening off with cake and tea. And then we chatted with the friends from Amsterdam. Their names were Raymill, Yanice, and Nivari. But they were such nice people! They all spoke English very well so we had some good talk about cultures, food, theatre, etc. Raymill was my favorite. We talked up a storm and he was just one of those people you immediately just love because they are so themselves and just so friendly and interested in the person he's talking to. What a hoot! We plan to meet again before they go back to Amsterdam, so I'm excited for that. That dinner was so neat because there were so many cultures present. Our Lithuanian family, the sister-in-law (Rita) and her boyfriend who is American/Norwegian, Our dutch friends, and then us Americans. I loved that. And everyone knows english so well, it seems, so we can all communicate and we just had the nicest night!