Most of last week was spent at the All Volunteer Conference in Bazaleti. Like last year, all of the Peace Corps volunteers in Georgia got together for a few days of trainings, informative sessions, good times, and, of course, the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

A team of people worked hard all week on enough food for around 120 people: gallons of gravy, vats of pumpkin soup, piles of stuffing (both white bread and corn bread), creamed corn casserole, pumpkin pie, apple pie, banana pudding, salad with homemade ranch dressing and homemade mustard vinaigrette, applesauce and homemade biscuits. Last year we had to carve the turkeys, which arrived hours late and then took a lot of time. This year the turkeys arrived pre-carved and smoked to tender perfection.

I once again made the green bean casserole, and it was a hit. Several people went out of their way to tell me so. The funny part about this for me is that I have made this dish exactly twice in my life: at last year’s conference and at this year’s conference.

McKinze and I were really bad about taking pictures this year… Both of us were busy with committees, presentations, cooking, etc. and the camera just stayed in the bag. So here’s a pic taken by a member of the PC staff of the “Thanksgiving Mafia,” as he called us.

What a solid group of hard-working people, doing what needed to be done to bring a little taste of home halfway around the world.