Today I have the privilege of writing a guest post for Communicating Across Boundaries.  Marilyn Gardner of CAB is a passionate writer who covers a wide range of topics.  I appreciate her perspectives on culture and Third Culture Kid (TCK) issues.  She spent formative years in Pakistan and has traveled extensively, with a keen eye that values things beyond the touristy – relationships and people.

As we inevitably reflect upon holidays past during this time of year, I often think of a Thanksgiving meal that was served the day I returned from boarding school.  The meal was a wreck.  It certainly didn’t look like this year’s holiday feast pictured on the left.  Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I’ll post my mom’s reflections of that day along with a reminder that Christmas should be the ultimate day of thanksgiving.

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A naked, fluorescent bulb dangled from the ceiling.  The power source – a dusty car battery – lay on the red cement floor.  Figures in varying stages of acute fatigue cast shadows on the cement block walls that were hosts to various shades of deteriorating white.  Humidity engulfed them as they quickly stripped off every possible layer of clothing, only preserving the most minimal, acceptable amount of modesty.  A mosquito whirred its wings in dizzying flight on the window screen.  In a split-second, a gecko expertly ran down the screen from the top corner and ate his hearty meal just as we were beginning ours.  This was not the setting of a military interrogation, but the setting of our Thanksgiving dinner. . .

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Read the entire article on Communicating Across Boundaries here.