So this may be a very short post.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving (a holiday that cannot properly be celebrated in the absence of turkey, but hey maybe two chickens cooked by the Muslim men will work) I want to list all of the things I am thankful for in this place:
- One kuai (read 14 cents) fresh french fries less than a meter outside the school gate.
- The number of Tibetans and Chinese who wished me a Happy Thanksgiving.
- The girls who I met who are believers even though not a single other person in their families or among their friends are.
- Mango ice cream, found in only two places in the city.
- The small Christmas tree and ornaments that were sent to me.
- That Soba didn't blind me when he tried to help me get the bug out of my eye.
- The cranberry sauce that Sarah made to go with our Thanksgiving chicken.
- My students who always act so overly excited to see me in the street.
- That Tibetan people will clap no matter how poorly you sing.
- The crystal clear nights, where every star seems to gleam as though it had just been polished.
- The ladder which I found that will let me up to the roof of our building.
- My team, spread out over the city as we are, we are here together.
- Cups of sweet tea that never run dry, cups of butter tea that always do.
- The sweet little puppies who roll and tumble all over your feet as you walk down the street, and the cows who lazily stop up traffic, and the yaks who look as though they are posing for pictures.
- The children who do group exercises with their school every morning as I finish class.
- The electric heaters that don't blow up even when I forget to turn them off.
- Sweet potato casserole that actually tasted like sweet potato casserole.
- People who overcome their shyness enough to stop and chat with me.
- The Chinese restaurant family who always talk to me and cook the tastiest food even though I don't understand even 5% of what they are saying.
- The Tibetans who never grow weary of correcting my pronunciation and increasing my vocabulary.
- That His work is visible here, not all the time, not in obvious ways, but powerfully nonetheless.
