In a room of ten people, I'd rank pretty close to the bottom 10% when it comes to sentimentality. So it may surprise some of you to learn that I'm missing being home for Thanksgiving this year. I'm not sure what I miss. Oh sure, the people. But it's more than that, living here we miss people all the time.

Maybe it's the food. I would really enjoy bellying up to the smorgasbord that is Thanksgiving Day. But I've learned my yearning for food is a bit of a mirage. I remember before we went home for furlough Brin and I would talk about what food we missed, what restaurants we looked forward to visiting, even what dish we would order (OK, as I write this I realize how lame that sounds...). The reality was, we had built it up a bit too much, even the goodness that is a crispy creme doughnut could not live up to the expectations of that first bite.

So it can't be the food. For me, the holidays is more than just the event, it's the collective feeling of being part of something big, something communal. I see it a lot here, Brazilians really know how to party, and have more national holidays than you would care to know (would anyone like to celebrate the birthday of your town?). But for all the celebrating that I see here, I feel like an observer. It feels a bit like an inside joke that I just don't get, no matter how many times I ask for an explanation, it's still not funny.

Anyway, I know somewhere, far away, everyone's laughing at my inside joke, but I'm just not there to enjoy it. Laugh away... oh yeah, and eat a huge slice of strawberry rhubarb pie for me.

-JTP