Thanksgiving on the Red Sea

November 25

Our day was quite unlike any other Thanksgiving Day. We woke early and after a breakfast of french toast, we put on our swim suits and walked a half hour down the beach to the Bedouin Divers. We realized this would be a different dive experience because instead of putting our gear on a boat we loaded our gear into the back of a pickup truck and then climbed into another jeep with bench seats in back. We drove south along the coast to a little dive camp where we unloaded our gear next to a large thatch roofed restaurant.

We did our dive safety talk seated on the floor on cushions and rag rugs around a low Bedouin style table. Then we put on our dive equipment and walked down to the Red Sea to do a shore dive. The Red Sea has a very high saline content so we needed extra weights to control our buoyancy. We were glad to finally get in the cool water and see the famous red sea coral reef. We saw giant clams, table coral and a huge puffer fish as well as several beautiful large lion fish. We also saw trash and lots of white, dead coral. A bit disappointed, we headed for shore and a relaxing lunch at the restaurant.

During the meal, we tried to explain Thanksgiving to the egyptian, dutch and hungarian folks in our dive party. You watch a parade on T.V.? You eat turkey? Our egyptian dive master was surprised to hear this feast lasted only a day. Thanksgiving suddenly seemed a little strange to me.

We did a second dive after lunch. Although the reef didn’t live up to expectations, the adventure of diving by truck and seeing camels on the beach made it a very exotic thanksgiving experience.

After warm showers back at the place and more beach and ocean play time for the kids we went out to eat at one of the relaxing bedouin style beach cafes. Our table was just a few meters from the water’s edge. We ate some traditional food such as chicken and mashed potatoes and some nontraditional food such as babaganoush and seafood pasta.

In our family, we have a very corny and somewhat dreaded tradition of going around the table and sharing what we are grateful for that year. This usually brings quickly mumbled responses from the kids of “I am thankful for family and friends” or when they were younger, “I’m thankful for my toys”. This year our traditional question unleashed ten minutes of heartfelt wishes for those things they missed back home. They listed vacuum cleaners, clean water from the tap, washing machines, soft cozy carpeting, the microwave and cupboards with food in them. They also listed things like Thanksgiving with Milan and Theo (their cousins), getting to go to Minnesota for Christmas, play dates with friends, school, dinner parties in Boise, bike riding and going to Tamarack. A few of these things they had previously complained about!

Bjorn and Emma enjoy all the new adventures they experience every day on this trip. But they also have moments of intense homesickness. Last night during the thankfulness tirade, I realized how much has changed for us in a few short months. Though this deep appreciation for what we have back home may dissipate quickly once we return, at least we have this one year when we all recognize what we have and are thankful.
-Margit

Gifts from the Red Sea - Can you find the animal tooth?