Happy Turkey Day!!!

Hello everyone!!! I cannot believe that it’s already Thanksgiving – time for turkey, family, and football (Americano!). We all have a lot to be thankful for this year!

First of all, we have a new President. Having seen how the United States looks from the perspective of a Latin American country, it makes me so proud to be able to say that we now have a biracial, part African-American President who wants to enact change in our society. Things are and will be getting pretty bad with the economy, but the fact that we can still afford the internet to post to and read blogs is pretty good, eh? I suppose we definitely have that to be thankful for.

I personally am also quite thankful for the support I have received down here from my Cuban friends, my international friends, my Harvard classmates, and my “ANAP family.” It would have been so hard integrating in here had it not been for the friends I have met at the University, and the help of everyone at ANAP. I have met incredible people in my classes, and have gone with them to performances, run into them around campus, and have just sat around talking with them. It was an amazingly wonderful feeling the other day to be on campus for a mere half hour and run into several people that I know, greet them, and see how their lives are going. Something so simple as feeling like I fit in would have seemed so distant two months ago!!! It is incredible to me, and I am so thankful for having met the people that I have met, and having had the amazing conversations that I have had.

I am also, as always, very thankful to my friends and family back home. I wrote about this in the last post, but I am always so appreciative for all of the love. Thanks, everyone!

I think that most of all, though, I am so grateful for the opportunities (which often manifest themselves as random chance occurrences) that God has given me, especially this program in Havana. Everything that has ever happened in my life has happened as a result of the appearance of a very well-timed idea, word, person, etc. – I chose half of my classes as a result of stopping in a classroom by chance, and I also met most of my friends when someone started a random conversation. I cannot help but feel blessed for all the gifts that have been given to me in this life, and cannot help but realize what a miracle it is to be alive and joyful in this beautiful world that we live in. God is very present and alive, and He is constantly working in our lives in ways we often don’t understand. I’m constantly trying to remind myself of that, even when I get frustrated with living here - things often are often more difficult to “resolver,” but Cubans always maintain a strong graciousness in handling all of life’s problems. Looking at how very little Cubans have, it has made me a lot more thankful for everything I do have: access to internet, the ability to contact my family in the US, access to the CUC, medicine, etc. We are very very blessed, indeed. After all, “la vita e bella” – always.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone. : )