Friday, November 29, 2002

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I turned down an invitation to dinner in Yerevan at Raffi and Zabel�s house.

I did take the invitation to a friend�s house in Stepanagert for Turkey and other yummy things.

On the way to my friends house, I went on a hunt for some pies and cakes, driving all over Stepanagert to find a bakery. I finally was directed to go to the main shooga where there is shop in that area that deals in fresh cakes.

I parked my car and on foot made my way up the street, finding the bakery/store, but my hopes to find a pumpkin pie was not realized.

The girls at the bakery were enjoying my visit and making recommendations of what to buy and not to buy. One of the cakes I wanted, the girl told me she would not recommend and in fact would not sell it to me because it�s so bad.

As they were adding up everything, I went to bring my car closer to load my big box of cake and a couple bottles of wine. When I walked back in, one of the girls said to the girl adding the damage, �Oh, your man is back�. She said, �My man, no, I don�t have a man yet�.

I thanked the girls for their help and drove to my friends house.

So here were the only 2 Armenians from America, his wife, child and a couple of local guests (his wife�s father and cousin) of his sitting and eating what I would guess was a 6 pound turkey which in my opinion was so much tastier than any turkey I�ve had in America.

My friend was educating his local guests on some of the thanksgiving customs and I was saying the toast of thanks.

I think the local guest got a kick out of the whole thing and will say that they were really impressed with my friend telling how big the turkeys are in America.

We had with our meal 60 proof mulberry vodka (which I usually don�t drink) and homemade really good, I mean really good red wine. To say the least, I got a bit intoxicated.

Our meal was finished with homemade pumpkin preserves topped with crushed walnuts, the cakes I brought and tea.

Though I had already decided this year that thanksgiving was not a big deal and I would do without it, I would like to thank my friend for calling me and inviting me to his family thanksgiving dinner. It was a good chance for me to reflect on life and all the things we have to be thankful for. I really enjoyed myself.

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