My Thanksgiving dinner

This was my third Thanksgiving out of the country. Once before in New Zealand, and another in Tanzania. There always seems to be a sort of patriotic gathering that occurs amongst Americans abroad on Thanksgiving. Its a holiday totally uncelebrated by the rest of the world, so its kind of our own day that few people really understand. But the ex-pats always seem to find away to get together, and do what Americans do best on Thanksgiving: eat themselves into a stupor.

I met a group of 8 Americans at a great restauraunt called Cafe 1999. Hardly a traditional or homestyle establishment, but ended up being an excellent choice. But it was the amazing mix of people that really made it a great meal. It was one of those situations where I dont think everyone really knew everyone. We all knew someone else there, but most of us were meeting for the first time that evening.

In attendance were:

A Fullbright scholar who just graduated from University of Michigan (Anand)
A pediatric infectious disease fellow
An artist working in Zulu sculpture
A medical student from Texas doing HIV research (this one is me!)
A medical student from New York doing HIV research (Sara, a co-worker)
A beutiful nurse from Texas (her name starts with a K)
A guy who made 18th century brooms for most of his life, but started PA school at age 57
A nurse-practioner/midwife/PA
(the last two were a couple)

The broom maker and the midwife actually took the cake for the most fascinating people at the table. They were both theoretically retired, but had been working on projects all over southern Africa for the past few years. They had done everything from teaching at oprhanages about how to care for HIV infected children to work in prevention of vertical transmission of HIV from mother to child.

But was really fascinating was their "relationship." They had to have been one of the few people on the planet that managed to negotiate a functional open marriage. They each had other partners/lovers that they would see from time to time, with supposedly no jealousy. In fact, the extra partners were often close friends to them both. And usually, the extra partners had 1-2 partners of their own. Once the table discovered this, we were captivated. Questions were fired at them before they could even answer.

Essentially, it seemed that they made it work because they truly beleived they were soul mates. They knew that their spirits had been together in past lives, and that there really was no one else better for them. Sure, they had other partners that were friends, lovers. But nothing came close to the deep connection that they seemed to share. It was interesting to hear about, though not your typical Thanksgiving dinner topic of conversation.

So, all in all it was a great thanksgiving. The food was incredible, one of the best meals I have had in Durban so far. But the company was really a great mix of diverse, fascinating people. For that experience and for the many great experiences I have had already, I am quite thankful.