Gobble Gobble!

Well that was one heck of a Thanksgiving dinner!

No offense meant family, but honestly, you have to admit you can’t really compete with crystal, servants and bourgeoisie to the max…

So for those of you who don’t know, I was invited to the Ambassador’s residence, in Quito, for Thanksgiving dinner. Residence is really an understatement; I would classify it more as a mansion or compound or algo así. At first I was a little hesitant about the whole affair- I had it in my mind that it would be overly formal and stuffy. But as it happens, the US Ambassador to Ecuador, Heather Hodges (to be referred to as Madam Ambassador) is a big fan of the Peace Corps and is a really cool person to talk with.

As luck would have it, Sam and I were the first to arrive at Eden the residence. The butler greeted us at the door and escorted us to the patio where the Ambassador was receiving her guests. It was nice to get to chat with her for a bit before the place filled up the late-runners. Once people started steadily filing in, a waiter began walking around with a tray of beverages: red or white wine, beer or orange juice. Basically we just stood around chit-chatting, drinking and playing with the First Dog, Rocky. (Great name for a dog!)

After the social hour, we were ushered into the dining room, which was set spectacularly. There were not assigned seats, but the Ambassador did ask that we sit by people we didn’t know. Then she had us go around the table, introducing ourselves to everyone. Of the 20+ people there, about half were PCVs, and the rest were a scattering of Army, and embassy employees. Grace was said and the feast arrived.

The meal was buffet style and can I say that it was the best all-you-can-eat buffet I’ve ever been to. It was the whole shebang: turkey, stuffing, gravy, green beans, yams, beets, rolls, pumpkin, pecan and apple pies and much, much more! While we ate, the waiters continually walked around filling our glasses with wine and water, clearing away our dirty plates, and serving us coffee or tea at the end of the meal. Can I just say that in true Thanksgiving fashion, I stuffed myself to the point of illness!

I’m proud of myself for only committing one faux pax. When we got up to serves ourselves, I didn’t know that other plates were at the buffet, so I grabbed my base plate to serve myself. Of course it was the Ambassador herself that noticed and told me to leave the base plate on the table and use the other ones. Looks like I might not get the invite next year…

Later that night I did get a little homesick, but the exceptional dinner helped assuage that. Hope you USAer had meals at least as half as good as mine!

Tomorrow I’m off to Joy’s site; we are having a going away party for a fellow Cangahüeno who is ETing on Monday. So now that a total of 2 from my training town who left the PC. Dare I say we’re cursed?

BTW, my own personal rebellion to avoid calling the hostess by name and thus never saying the overly pretentious title “Madam Ambassador”