Stretch pants were made for Turkey Day...

...even in Costa Rica.
(Yes, I am wearing leggings underneath a very stretchy turtleneck dress--a well-planned outfit appropriate and fit for feasting--complete with scarf and hat. It's been cold today; actually feels like Thanksgiving season weather!)

We celebrated and shared our U.S. holiday here, even though the students still had class this morning, and I took our van to its emissions test (for the third time. Finally batted my eyes and got the brakes to pass!). Regardless of the work involved in the day (non-meal preparation related), I have had such a great Thanksgiving that involved many loved ones and doing many things I love (that does not include batting my eyes at car inspectors):

• Cooking and helping in the kitchen. Stuffing, my fave, was one of my parts in meal prep!
• Also, baking pies (24 mini pumpkin ones and 2 big apple ones) with the assistance of a couple of our students.

• Laughing. So. Much. Laughter. (Ab workout might compensate for our food babies??)
• Laughing games after our Thanksgiving meal, everyone sharing in the laughter around the table.
• Zip-bong lips covering teeth game. Look it up if you've never heard of it. Hilarious.
• Singing.
• Dancing.
• Inventing new sayings and quoting old ones. 
• Good CRC family-staff and students all celebrating and giving thanks together.

Our chef, Mario, carves the "drunk" turkey
(those of you who I talked to today will get what this means)

My Thanksgiving meal. Yes, I ate meat after being a vegetarian for 5 months.
The drunk turkey was sooooo good.

CRC fam. Laughing. So much love.

• Being creative and crafty: 
• candle making was going on today with Travis and the students, 

Don't worry, he's not all that creepy in real life...

Trav is pretty thug with his craftsy candles.

• a turkey costume (Sara) was paraded around in all day,

Sara's self-decorated turkey-day costume. This was just the front.

• a play put on by our weekly neighborhood English class about the first Thanksgiving,
• making homemade peanut butter and pb-cacao "damngood wholesome spread"  (blenders are great inventions!),

Bean and Trav make more "hot danm wholesome spread",
(and yes, I did misspell the word DAMN on the label)
a.k.a. peanut-butter cocoa spread. SO yummy.

Goober sauce, or peanut butter.

• making and enjoying spiced warm drinks,
• all the while with lots of Christmas music playing (yes, we've just embraced the holiday season thoroughly)
• Skyping into celebrations and gatherings with loved ones in other parts of the world.
• And I'm sure the list could go on.

Though we have a lot of food left over, we have been sharing with our neighbors and those who cross our paths all day. Contrary to the common practice of a Thanksgiving feast being a festive gathering of gluttonous sinners, today we brought our resources together to create beautiful experiences, those which we will continue to share (in leftovers and in spirit) in the days to come.