November 24, 2010- ITTP and Getting Ready for the Holidays!

    

     The third grade here on the atoll has a tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with the ITTP (International Thanksgiving Tasting Party), and today was feast day!   Each student works for a couple of weeks at least on preparing for the event, including completing their family trees, making posters about the country their family comes from, and finding and writing out a family recipe for a traditional dish representative of their culture. It’s inspiring to see how in touch the families are with their ancestry. I expected to see more than one student with a poster and dish from the U.S., but my son was the only one.  Our family’s heritage is a greater percentage of Southern born United States than any other culture way back in our history, so this was the area he proudly represented at the party. Our dish was sweet potato pie, which I discovered pretty late in life and after leaving the South for the islands, is really yam casserole, as it was always orange at our family celebrations, and only yams are actually orange. Interestingly enough, this must be a common mistake as the recipe I found off the internet, which was as close to my family’s long lost recipe as I could remember, showed a picture of the dish just as orange as I knew it to be, but it was still called “sweet potato casserole.”  My cousin always called it “orange pie,” although it’s not really a pie at all, at least not the way we made it. 

     The other countries represented ranged from Ireland, Wales, England, Sweden, Scotland, Russia, Italy, Australia, Marshall Islands, Pohnpei, and many more. From these countries, we enjoyed such dishes as Irish Potato Soup, Pirogues, Swedish Pancakes, Coconut Rice Balls, Meatballs, Potato Salad, Gingerbread cookies, and other dishes I know were delicious as they were already gone by the time I made it through the line! For the children this was an all day event from set up and decoration to eating, presenting their work, and cleaning up afterwards. For me, it was an excellent way to kick off the holiday season! Between moving and continuing to find my way in a job I’ve only been at for 2 months, it was wonderful to relax and enjoy a meal with my boys, their friends, and their fabulous teachers! Unfortunately, after lunch, it was time to get back to work, and I’ve not slowed down since until now.  Between meetings, unpacking boxes, eating dinner, and gathering a few more things from my old home to bring over to my new home, I’ve been quite the busy girl.  But, as I mentioned last night, I am so blessed to have a home to spend the holidays in this year, food to eat, a job to go to every day, and amazing friends to share it all with! What am I thankful for this year: life, love, and the everyday business of raising a family and learning how to be content in all circumstances, no matter what!