Ein Tscherman Tanksgiving

So here we are at Thanksgiving dinner for 35, complete with three turkeys, yams, cranberries, and the basketball standard. The bishop graciously allowed us to use the church, which was nice, because we didn't have enough chairs, tables, plates, forks or knives at our house. Rob roasted two of the turkeys and made the gravy. I brought decorations and three kids. The students brought everything else, and they did a bang up job.
This is Tony, exulting in the aroma of Thanksgiving. We were grateful that the kitchen here is a bonafide kitchen, and not one of those ridiculous "serving areas". It's practical to carry everything from home when you live 5 minutes away and have a car. It's a different story altogether when it is half an hour on two busses. Rob packed the turkeys into pots in the stroller and then got on the first bus. He nearly had a heart attack when there was a huge dog waiting at the next bus stop, thinking that his gravy didn't have a chance against such a beast, but the dog was waiting for a different bus. Phew!
Here Cheryl is passing out napkins/awards before dinner. Everyone got one suited to their personality. Will was puzzled that he won Most Likely To Blow People Up. I asked him what he made when we were baking bread. He grinned and said "a bomb!" His grin is quite a sight. He's lost both front teeth now and I told him he'd probably be on a strict diet of mashed potatoes and gravy which isn't a sacrifice -- they're his favorite. Maddie was Most Likely To Become The First Female President; Sebi was Most Excited About The FHE Song; I was The Rock of Study Abroad; Rob was Berlin's #1 Fan. Boy, it's a good thing we didn't have to eat Cheryl back on that mountain in August!
After dinner, the students took shifts cleaning up every dish and surface. Rob had a member come and inspect so that no one would talk about "those Americans" and how they left the place. He said it looked clean, which Rob says means that you can perform surgery on the stove.
Finally, we came home and ate the pumpkin pie that three of our students had made and given to us under the table. They actually brought a can of Libby's and foil pie pans over in their bags. What foresight! It was a good pie, too!

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