What? No Turkey?

Nope. We were unable to locate a turkey, so we decided to get a whole chicken and some chicken pieces. Thanks to my friend Susan's amazing brine, the chicken was quite tasty! We also served: meatloaf (practically standard at our dinner table..), corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, dressing/stuffing, sweet pumpkin casserole, bread, cranberry sauce, and apple pie.
Because I think it's worthwhile information... the origin of the dressing/stuffing goes something like this:

Wednesday we shopped at RamStore. One purchase happened to be a tea Chris had enjoyed while in Turkey (the country). He was really excited for it because the tea is the actual dried leaves (packaged in a ziploc bag). It's about as natural as you can get. Well, so we get home and he steeped a pot of this tea and served some up for us. I was not a fan and told him that it tasted like chicken. He proceeded to tease me for my lack of enjoyment of this Turkish "delight" and finally said the name of the tea in English: sage tea. Jessie, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure sage is a very common, if not prominent herb in poultry seasoning. I was very excited to realize this as I hadn't been able to figure out how we would manage to season the dressing (or the chicken for that matter). So, the sage worked wonderfully, but now Chris is feeling a little queasy about drinking chicken tea. ;)
Our party! Mike on the left, Chris, Aundrey, Stacia, Anya, Addie, me, Sam, and Asiyat.
After dinner we asked everyone to say what they were thankful for, and while the majority of the group mentioned family and friends (in meaningful, non-rote ways), I was really grateful for Asiyat's contribution. Asiyat works for the US State department and is the contact here for the Fulbright scholarship recipients. She mentioned that she was most thankful for the opportunity she has to work with the Fulbrighters, young adult Americans who come to her country not to teach about their own, but to learn about hers, and then return to America and teach other Americans about her country.

We often get a lot of questions about why we are here. We are here for Chris to do research, but the grant doesn't exist to enable research on his specific topic. The purpose of the Fulbright program is to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the peoples of other countries. The Fulbright program provides the opportunity for participants to learn about other cultures and bring that knowledge and experience back to the States. [Bet'ch didn't know that this blog is actually helping to fulfill the purpose of the grant money... ;D]

In all seriousness, it was pretty amazing to realize how much the program means to her, a Kazakh who is aware of the program's purpose and sees its fruit. I have really enjoyed being here. I can honestly say that I love this country (with all its quirks) and I hope those we are acquainted with grow to love it too. Before I knew Chris, I was ignorant to the Central Asian area of the world, but have quickly become intrigued by these countries, these cultures and these peoples. I am so grateful to be a beneficiary of the grant and this experience.