My Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, which most of you enjoy, we went my teammates' apartment -- the O'Byrnes. Mrs. O'Byrne had told us that the kids enjoyed dressing up, and I wanted to also. So imagine my surprise when they called and said, "Would Lydia like to be a Pilgrim?" My answer was, "Yes, of course!"

On Thanksgiving morning, I helped my mom prepare some foods, and they were all wonderful. We cooked apple/whortleberry relish, corn casserole, gravy, and muffins. We packed up the ingredients for glazed onions, raw carrot and apple salad and got ready to go the Metro. The backpack was heavy, and the Metro crowded. I was thankful to get a seat. Most of the foods did not get crushed, the muffins were a tinsy, winsy bit mushed.

When we arrived at the O'Byrne's apartment, immediately after I had removed my coat, mittens, scarf, and hat, the O'Byrne girls, Gillian and Karina, pulled me straight into their Plimouth Plantation makeover in the playroom. There was sheets hanging from the bunkbed acting like a cabin/tent with cardboard walls. Inside the tent was a table with a platter on it, with stuffed animal rabbit acting "dead". Beside the rabbit were some other bowls and platters. Most of them had little beads in it acting as nuts. A fire made of playbricks was in the corner and roasting over it were empty ice cream buckets acting as pots with meat in it.

Outside of the tent was a table, and it had other pans. There were plastic eggs and also a pot with cotton bits and nuts beside it. In another corner was a bigger fire with a lamp in the center to make it look like a fire. Overhead hung a big red bag supposedly "meat".

Well, the O'Byrnes then fished me out of there and got me dressed into Pilgrim clothes. Karina, 11, and Liam, 8, dressed as Indians. My brothers also dressed as Indians. Gillian, 13, and I wore Pilgrim outfits. There were more Indians because at the first Thanksgiving it is said that the Indians outnumbered the Pilgrims. I had a very good time dressing up and playing in the Plimouth Plantation.

We gathered around the table. Boy, was I hungry, but I could only eat one plateful. That was unusual. We got to eat whortleberrry sauce. I sampled my first bit of turkey. I had never had turkey in my life. I did not like it, sadly. We ate corn casserole, muffins, carrot salads, mashed potatoes, and green beans with almonds.

l to r: Gillian, Liam, Lydia, Karina, Kerith, Lyle, Simon


After that we sang songs. First we sang hymns, then we did silly songs. After singing, we went back for dessert -- apple pie, pumpkin pie, and nut pie with ice cream. Then we played games.

My first Thanksgiving in Russia wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It had a glamorous effect in my stomach. I missed all the things back at home that we used to do, but at least I had a good time here.