Thanksgiving with the locals.

We held a Thanksgiving dinner for all of the volunteers in the South and their Moldovan counterparts. We had a total of 47 guests. Cooking a meal for that many people isn't easy, but we succeeded. The turkey was raised in the neighboring village of Brinza. We killed it, plucked it, gutted it, cleaned it and cooked it. It was primal...and awesome. Holly, Jesse and I had the most guests mostly because it was held here in Cahul and we invited all of our Moldovan friends and their families. But in total we had 14 Peace Corps volunteers and 2 local Fulbright scholars. I'm still pissed I didn't get any pumpkin pie, but whatever. Peace and friendship...

Our friends Vica and Natasha.

The crowd awaits.

Jesse carves the turkey. RIP, Leonard II...

Some of the spread.

Gicu, a local student who not only got us the turkey, but helped us prepare the entire meal.

The Moldovans dig in. Most of the foods they have never heard of or seen. All were labeled with descriptions in Romanian and Russian. We had to hand out the recipe many times for stuffing and pumpkin pie.

Me, Holly and Jesse.

Me and my best friend, Sasha.

Jesse posing with Sasha and his family.

The full group of Americans.
Front - Victoria, Kim, Maggie, Bethany, Rachel, Liz, Tom, Ross and Frances.
Back - Holly, Jesse, Sylvia, Kelly, John, Gene and Me.