A Belated Happy Thanksgiving

As may have mentioned before, as a Fulbrighter, I get treated really, really well by the staff of the American Embassy - including an invitation to Thanksgiving Dinner at the residence of Ambassador Phil Reeker and his wife. It was difficult to find the place, because I told the taxi driver to look for a house, and he refused to believe that anybody could live in the fortress-like mansion that the Ambassador calls home.

Dinner was traditional and delicious. The only confusing point was the dessert list; nobody at my table could figure out what exactly "Maple Pie" could be. When I asked the Macedonian guests, thinking it to be a mistranslation of a local specialty, they shrugged and said, "It must be like apple pie, but made with maples." Explaining the difference between a fruit (the apple) and a tree (the maple) seemed like too much effort. Luckily, the pumpkin pie was spectacular.