Thanks Giving

Thanks Giving is celebrated here every year on the fourth Thursday of November to give thanks for the things that one has at the end of the harvest season.

On Wednesday, December 4th, 1619, a group of 38 English Settlers arrived in Berkeley Hundred on the north bank of the James River,Virginia. The group's charter required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a "day of thanksgiving" to God. On that first day, Captain John Woodleaf held the service of thanksgiving. Here is the section of the Charter of Berkeley Hundred which specifies the thanksgiving service: "Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."

We spent the day with the Hampton's (a neighbourhood family) and we ate too much turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pie and mashed potato. It felt just like Christmas!

Winter is coming!

The leaves are almost gone and the snow has started! I am scared about how cold it gets here! This picture was taken at Zac's parents' house in Lakewood. Chautauqua lake in the background and our huge car in the garden.

Lakewood Study Group

The Lakewood study group meet once a month to hear a speaker do a presentation on a variety of topics. This month Zac and I gave a presentation about The Gambia: Culture, Development and Islam. We shared photographs, stories and opinions about our two years in The Gambia. It was the perfect opportunity to educate people about how great the Gambian people are, their many strengths and the problems they face. We also explained what VSO and The Peace Corps are all about. It was great fun, both planning and giving the presentation and we had an excellent turn out of about thirty people who all wore Gambian clothes.

Mr and Mrs Shepherd

On Wednesday 14th November at half past four Zac, Betsy, David and I went down to Jamestown City hall where the Mayor of Jamestown, Sam Teresi, married us. It was a short civil service, with Zac's parents as our witnesses. Afterwards we went out for a nice meal in Lakewood. Betsy gave me a pearl broach to wear on my dress which has been worn on wedding days by five generation of women in Betsy's family. We are both very happy and looking forward to sharing our marriage with all our friends and family in 2008.

Friends and Family

On our road trip we also spent one evening with Betsy and Jim, close family friends who live in DC and then we went south to Port Haywood, Virginia to meet up with some friends of ours who used to live in Dakar, Senegal. It was great to see them and discuss how we have all been struggling to settle back into life in a developed country.

Before we headed back to Lakewood we were very lucky to spend two days in Old Greenwich, Connecticut with Zac's sister, Kimber and his two nieces Liz and Julia. On our final journey back home we stopped off in the Catskill State Park, New York where we hiked for a few hours through the woods on Cambell and Brock Mountain, near Pepacton Resevoir.

Back to Silver Spring, at last!

After Gettysburg we headed to Silver Spring, Maryland, where I used to work as a live-in nanny for a wonderful family when I was eighteen. It was so strange to finally be back after 11 years. Zac and I spent the weekend with Andrea, Michael and Julia and we had a wonderful time catching up with each other and some of the neighbouring families. Julia, who was 4 when I looked after her, is now busy applying for university and Alex, who was 7, is now in his first year at Brown University! It made me feel very old! Andrea had arranged for me to meet with some people who work in international development and they gave me some great advise and more connections for finding work. Zac and I also spent a day in DC where we visited the National Museum of Native Americans and the World War II memorial. The War memorial was particularly spectacular which honours the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the US, the more than 400,000 who died and all those who supported the war effort from home.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

After leaving Morgantown we headed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where we spent the afternoon wandering around the National Military Park.

Fought over the first three days of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most critical battles of the Civil War having occurred at a time when the fate of the nation hung in the balance- the summer of 1863. Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy", it was the culmination of the second and most abitious invasion of the North by General Robert E. Lee and the "Army of Northern Virginia". The "Army of the Potomac", the Union army that had long been the nemesis of Lee, met the Confederate invasion at the crossroads town of Gettysburg and though it was under a new commander, General George Gordon Meade, the northerners fought with a desperation born of defending their home territory. The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg resulted in Lee's retreat to Virginia and an end to the hopes of the Confederacy for independence. It was also the war's bloodiest battle with 51,000 casualties. It also provided President Abraham Lincoln with the setting for his most famous address. (From www.nps.gov)

Zac's Grandfather

On the 1st of November Zac and I headed off on a mini road trip, first stop - Morgantown, West Virginia. We stayed with Zac's Grandpa, Jim and his girlfriend Ann. Jim is a very active member of the Morgan Town community and has worked hard to protect local parks for many years. Jim was very keen to show us Dorsey's Knob Park, a local park which he has worked hard to obtain and protect over the past several years. It is the City of Morgantown's newest park in the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners park system. This 70-acre site is one of the highest points in Monongalia County and from its "Sky Rock" peak, you can see for miles and miles.

www.dorseysknob.org

Zac's Grandpa (Jim) is also very interested in family history and we spent many hours reading about the Shepherds and where they came from. They actually have strong connections with Lancaster, England. Jim's father (Larry Shepherd) was born in Lancaster in 1877 and Jim's grandfather (Peter Shepherd) was also born in Lancaster in 1848. They lived just outside Lancaster in the small village of Warton-with-Lindeth. Peter Shepherd, Zac's Great, Great Grandfather was a draper, milliner and dress maker.

Halloween - It is a big deal here!

I remember from when I lived in Maryland that Halloween is a big event here. Everyone made a big effort in decorating their houses and gardens. The streets of Lakewood filled with children and parents wearing wonderful costumes. David, Zac's dad, wore a scary mask and frightened some of the younger children as he gave out sweets and chocolates. I made a Gambian Jack O'Lantern complete with Fula scarring on the cheeks, a common feature of the women of the Fula tribe.