Congolese are interested in our world. Some of our American culture and practices are really hard to explain. The hardest holiday to explain is our Thanksgiving Day.
First, you have to imagine you are talking a poor rural Congolese. One who eats about one meal a day. And that meal is without meat. Also, one who owns very few material things. And finally, one who is may have never seen a paved street lined with high skyscapers. With those images in mind, you are ready to try to explain Thanksgiving now.
The last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day. It's always on Thursday versus a Friday, a Saturday, or a Sunday. And it's no particular date just the last Thursday. It's a day of feasting. Everyone or almost everyone cooks and eats turkey.
While the turkey is cooking. We saw parades of people and giant floating animal go down some main street or boulevard in New York. Also, there are people riding on brightly decorated trailers being pulled or driven down the same streets. Hundreds of thousands of people are standing out to see the spectacle. It's a wonderful timed laced with delicious smelling food.
Next, it time to eat. We have prepared a big golden brown turkey along with tons of potatoes, rices, pastas, beans, corns, greens, and salads available in thousands of varieties and tastes. We eat until we are full. Then we eat some more.
Our insane grazing is followed by an afternoon and evening of watching football and our favorite classic movies. Finally, we go to sleep for a couple of hours before we get up to go stand in line at store. We start shopping at about 4am and shop til we fully exhausted. That's our Thanksgiving Day celebration and feast.
Afterward, you noticed that something must have been lost in the translation. Or is there something wrong with us?
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