Potluck

The potluck last night was great!  A lot of people from the village came, and there was a lot of food.  There was too much to choose from, and I couldn't fit everything that I wanted to try on my plate, so I had to go back for seconds.  It was all delicious.  I even tried some seal!  It tasted sort of like liver, which I'm not a huge fan of.  I'm not sure that it's something I would want to have again, but at least I can say I tried it :-)

Something that I thought was really neat about last night was that before we began eating, Linda asked for a volunteer to say a blessing.  One of the men from the village stood up and prayed.  I had no idea that they would do that at a village gathering like this, but it was a pleasant surprise.

I was also able to clean out quite a bit of food from my pantry, which was helpful for me.  After school I went straight to my apartment to start cooking up as much as I could.  Here is a picture of some of my contibutions.

Not too shabby, I'd say.  I made cookies from the rest of my tollhouse cookie dough, and I brought the rest of my molasses cookies that I got from Costco.  I made up the rest of my frozen spinach and mozarella ravioli.  I made up the last of my instant mashed potatoes.  And I dumped the rest of my canned veggies together in a bowl.  I also contributed the rest of my fruit cups and some of them were used in fruit salad.  I'm glad that my leftover food could get put to good use.  And I'm also glad that I was able to get rid of it.

Before we began eating last night, Linda made me come up in front of everyone so that they could all say thank you for me being here.  Everyone clapped for me, which made me embarrassed, but it also made me feel really good.  They also presented me with a certificate of appreciation that everyone in the school signed (all the teachers and students).  It was really nice.  I even had a couple of the people from the village come up to me and thank me for being here.  All in all, it was a really good way to end my time in Perryville.  I don't feel like I did all that much other than hold down the fort until the new teachers arrived, but clearly people appreciated me and my efforts, and that feels good. 

While I ate I got to sit with the new teacher and his family, the ladies who are the special education teachers, and the principal of the school.  It was really nice to sit and chat.  All of the people who work for this school district (Lake and Peninsula School District) are really nice and it has been fun to have the opportunity to get to meet them and work with them for a short time.

I really enjoyed the potluck.  Linda made a point to tell me the other day that part of the reason they were having the potluck was to welcome the new teachers, but another part of the reason they were having it was to thank me.  I think potlucks are one of the greatest inventions ever, because sharing food with people is one of my favorite things to do, (one of the reasons I love being a lutheran...he he) so it was definitely a great way to end things.  I certainly felt appreciated, and well fed :-)