Thanksgiving

Today is like pretty much any other day in Darfur. It's sunny and hot. There's not going to be any turkey or mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie. Half of the people I talk to maintain that the real Thanksgiving was about a month ago. The other half have no idea it's a holiday. (There aren't too many Americans here). So, I got an e-mail this morning from a friend who works in Geneina. She wrote:

happy thanksgiving. i assume from your email that today is in fact thanksgiving for you. seeing as the day is called THANKSgiving I think that you should have to send me 10 things that you are thankful for....
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i'm waiting.....

So, here they are:

1. Sunshine and plenty of it
2. Good coffee
3. That I am not hungry, don't live in poverty, am not chronically ill, don't live in an IDP camp
4. FG Wilson - our generator. With it we have light and have connectivity to the outside world. Without it we are in darkness and alone.
5. Word just in...USAID has found a turkey. I repeat, USAID has found a turkey!! (it's not quite dead yet...but locating a bird is half the battle!)
6. Clean water - enough to drink and to bathe in
7. Phone calls and e-mails at just the right time from just the right people who cheer me up, make me laugh and generally give me the will to go on.
8. All the things that could go very, very wrong on a daily basis and don't.
9. My mosquito net.
10. That every day is a new day. That the sun keeps coming up and that I'm guaranteed that it will not be boring, always be interesting, and will not be like the last.

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