Gobble, Gobble

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I'm certain I've regained a few of the pounds that I've shed over the last 14 months in Moldova. A crack team of PCVs prepared a real feast for almost 300 PCVs, staff, embassy workers, and invited guests. There were turkeys and stuffing and cranberry sauce and gravy and pecan and pumpkin pies. "Full" doesn't begin to describe the way my stomach felt. And, there were even left-overs the following day for yet another feast at lunch.

Following the dinner, I hosted a PCV Talent Show. Highlights for me included a rockin' 80s lip sync medley, a line dance to both American and Moldovan music, and a performance of a hit Moldovan song - usually performed by a 3-year old girl (for real) - by my 30-year old male friend while dressed in drag and smoking. And word on the street is that my own performance of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was either beautifully poignant or grounds for dismemberment because I made everyone cry.

Thanksgiving wasn't all fun and games. All PCVs attened 3 days of a conference that addressed topics like our safety and security, secondary projects, appropriate dress for PCVs, and avian flu. Interestingly, despite being surrounded by avian flu findings in both Ukraine and Romania, Moldova has yet to find a single reported case. As most probably already know, the real danger of avian flu would be if the virus (the H5N1 strain) mutated to be able to infect humans from other humans, as the typical flu virus can do through the air. To prevent this, any infected birds or pigs - which can carry both the avian and human flu viruses at the same time, and thus act as incubators for a potential "super" virus strain - are slaughtered.

And just so I don't end this posting on the word "slaughtered," here's a nice picture.