Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Hope you are all safe and warm, enjoying the holiday with your families.

I'm missing my family a little bit today, though I know I will see my mom and Mike tomorrow afternoon. It just doesn't feel much like Thanksgiving here today at all because Venezuelans don't celebrate it, of course, so it's just another normal day here.

I had a Venezuelan-style potluck dinner with the other American students and some of our host families. There was no turkey, no stuffing, but plenty of chicken and rice, and fried plantains. Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without fried plantains. Actually, it was a nice break from tradition, in a lot of ways. The only thing I really missed (other than my family) were the pies. Venezuela suffers from a lack of pie. Very sad. Here is my mission for you all: eat some pie for me, whatever kind it may be - pumpkin, pecan, apple, lemon meringue, no matter! And please, do me the favor of getting so uncomfortably full that you can't imagine eating for the next 48 hours. That's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Home in a week and a half!