turkey in uganda

so this is a story about my quest to serve a turkey dinner for the real Canadian thanksgiving {that would be today, folks}.
i figured my best bet was to go to a local and ask if they have turkey here.
elizabeth. my trusted, amazing, sweet, hard working house help was the first person i thought of.
she smiles and says that yes, they do have turkey here in uganda and she will go to the market and find out for me how much.
then she pauses
do you want them to kill it or will you do that here?
she smirks because i believe she already knows the answer to the question she asks.
we laugh as i say that yes please, we'd like it to arrive dead. and preferably plucked.
she laughs again.
later in the week she texts me and asks if i want a male turkey or a female turkey.
um...?
seriously have you ever thought about if the turkey you eat at thanksgiving and/or christmas is male or female?
me neither.
so i google it. {of course.}
and we decide male is the way to go.
and i find a pumpkin!

and last night i baked it. {it's just as orange on the inside as ours are on the outside.}
and then this morning i woke up with a migraine.
and elizabeth is MIA until 11am.
with a female turkey.
cut up into pieces. in a black plastic bag.
i smile.
because...it's funny. our different cultures. me trying to do this "canadian" thing in the middle of uganda.
and a turkey cut up into pieces seems funny at the moment.
i tell her that usually we cook it whole.
we smile at each other, probably thinking how funny the others' culture is.
and then i go back to bed.
and i'll cook my thanksgiving dinner tomorrow instead of today.
i'm feeling better now and will probably bake my first ever pumpkin pie for my sweet husband. this is probably his favourite part of thanksgiving dinner.
i'm learning {ever so slowly}. to be thankful. every day.
and this afternoon as my headache slowly subsided i looked outside and saw my home. my green grass and exotic trees. the stone wall behind us and the red dirt on the roads. and i smiled. because being thankful in all things {as hard and ugly as they sometimes are} is teaching me contentment and joy.

linking up with miss elaineous mondays