early giving of thanks

So I know it's not Thanksgiving quite yet, but since I have access to the computer all the time I figured I should let the brusse volunteers and out of towners have it this week--we're getting a bunch of visitors tomorrow, which I'm excited about :) But while I have a chance, I want to take a very cheesy moment to write about what I'm thankful for.

As cliche as it sounds, being here makes me realize how lucky I really am. Not just for everything I have in the US--I'm not sure I can even begin to be thankful enough for that--but for the opportunity I have here. I get to live here in this amazing albeit difficult country, learn new languages, be a part of a kind and welcoming family, try things I never would have before (goat for example), and just have this life changing adventure all the while knowing that I have a safe, comfortable life waiting for me at home. Sure there are risks being here; at any moment I could get kicked by a donkey or run off the road by a brakeless taxi or eaten alive by ants and/or my students. But the US government gives me malaria pills and everything else I need to take care of myself (the PCMO will even send you lotion of you ask for it). I get paid enough money to pay rent and have the occasional fanta. I've already had more education and seen more of the world than the vast majority of Mauritanians ever will. When I want peanut butter or People magazine or candy, my wonderful moms send it to me (even stuff they NEVER would have let me have as a kid, like cheese in a can). And after 2 years, I'll return to a comfortable life. Of course I'll have to work hard, but we really do live in a country of possibilities. Only about 10% of students here pass the Bac (the end of high school exam you need to pass to go to college), which means that only that 10% even have a chance at higher education. Had I been born here, I'd most likely be barefoot and pregnant (literally) with kids tied to my back, spending all day cooking and cleaning. My mom Judy wrote in a letter once that as stupid as the American Dream sounds, parts of it really are true. I've been thinking a lot lately about that, and even though not everyone who works hard gets ahead in life and is able to better themselves and create a better future for their children, it's a lot easier than it is here. So although I often feel guilty about all this, today I want to express my utmost gratitude for being able to experience life here and still have so much privilege waiting for me.

I hope everyone back at home as a wonderful Thanksgiving. We're preparing a delicious feast here, and thanks to our spectacular families we will even be able to make pumpkin pie. And for the sake of Nelson/Posner family tradition, I also want to say that I'm thankful for the person who canned the pumpkin mix and who labeled the can and who shipped it to the supermarket and who put in on a shelf and the postal workers who got it here to us in Mauritania:)