Dear Family and Friends,

In my world, calendars hold less sway and it feels as if time itself has changed. Promises in Saudi Arabia are never without an “In šāʾ Allāh” (pronounced /in sha lah/), meaning “If it is God's will.” And I must say, very often it feels that God withholds his will or is, at the very least, very slow on dispensing it, blackening a beautiful phrase.

And no longer are the days of the week days of the week… well, in the sense that our work week is Saturday through Wednesday. We Westerners do not find the shift itself confusing – after all, time has changed – but we do find this problematic in our every day language. We often refer to Wednesday as Friday or must clarify whether we are talking about giving a quiz on Friday or, actually, Wednesday. Confusing.

As my sense of time has altered, it is little wonder that I was shocked on Wednesday morning to realize that that our Thanksgiving holiday was on the morrow. I mean, for weeks you all could hardly miss that it the month of November with its kitschy paper turkeys and wetted fall leaves. But for us here in the Northern Saudi desert, dates – and indeed the entire autumn season - elude us. And the realization that a holiday was nearly upon us jolted me into action.

After both listing food and people, I walked from villa to villa, soliciting interest in a celebratory potluck. Interest was nearly universal. And so just before sunset on Thanksgiving, we placed two dining room tables and 14 chairs diagonal through my living room. We used my desk as a buffet table, aligning roast chickens stuffed with homemade stuffing, pressed smoked turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, chop-chop salad, green beans, corn sliced from the cob, butternut squash dumplings, fruit salad, mashed and curried butternut squash + sweet potato, a Southern pea salad, and an amazing dried apricot chutney. Soon fourteen strangers living in a strange situation took up their forks and feasted.

For dessert, the men hand-whipped cream (!!!!!!) which was then coupled with sweetened sliced strawberries while I pulled out coffee, softened vanilla ice cream, and two butter-crust apple pies.

Our Thanksgiving was just what a thanksgiving ought to be: a celebration of life. I wish the same to - for - all of you.

With love, always,

Laura

A glimpse of our feast after fourteen hungry people had had a pass at the buffet table. The white bowl contained sliced watermelon, the foil-covered plate butternut dumplings, the blue bowl sliced corn, and the pan green beans...

There are neither pumpkin nor pecans to be had here
and there were no complaints about apple pie!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!