Nick in Liberia : A Thanksgiving Birhday

November 28, 2013

A Thanksgiving Day Birthday ranks high in my book. It takes years for it to happen and 2013 was one of those years. Mine was this year. Just think of the expectations to feast on turkey as you blow out 72 candles to people singing "Happy Birthday Day to You". Well that is the fantasy. Reality is a little different.

Every year the US Ambassador host a pot luck Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Ambassador's residence for Department of State employees, of which Peace Corps is included. In Liberia her house is located on the old embassy grounds which is a park-like setting, now replaced by the new embassy which is a fortress housed only by US Marines. US Embassy staff also open their homes for some Peace Corps Volunteers for overnight stays.I chose to stay with a family.

It just so happens that the young family consisted of the wife, Alexis, who is an embassy employee, her husband, Esteban, and their 1 1/2 year old son. What is unusual is that the son's name is Nicholas and that Esteban also has a November 28th birthday.

The really important thing is that Esteban is a great cook. His Wednesday night dinner of fish tacos and Thursday breakfast simply filled me up. The Thanksgiving potluck just could not compete.

The home stay gave me an inside look at what embassy life is like. Simply, it is transferring everything American to a foreign land. They can ship 700 pounds of food, car, and other items. The living accommodations are made to make an American feel right at home. There is almost no interaction with the people on the street. Embassy personnel make decisions in a vacuum, based on what hired consultants write, who in tturn get their information from previous hired consultants.

Old US Embassy grounds

I could go on about how the Peace Corps is probably the only department in the US government that actually has face-to-face interaction with what is really happening in a country, but I won't.

I do miss my family at times like this because they appreciate what a Thanksgiving Day birthday means to a person like me.