Last night, I celebrated my second Thanskgiving away from home (the first time was two years ago, when I was studying abroad). It was a very unique and interesting experience, so I wanted to reflect on it now, before I forgot all of the details.
Two years ago, I went to Prague with a Duke program during Thanksgiving, so I had a traditional, sit-down Thanksgiving meal with about 20 other Duke students at a restaurant in Prague. That was certainly an unforgettable experience, but of course, I didn't have to think about cooking or making plans, because the plans were sort of made for me. This time around, things were different; I wanted to be sure to celebrate Thanksgiving, in one way or another, with my "family" here in Spain.
My friend Christina proposed having a Thanksgiving meal at her house and inviting a bunch of our American friends, as well as some other non-American friends, who have never experienced Thanksgiving before. I immediately thought it was a great idea. I had been feeling a bit homesick lately (I think the combination of the time of year and being sick can do that to you!) so it really made me happy to think that I would still be doing something special for Thanksgiving, even if I wasn't going to be at home with my family, like usual.
The plan was to do a sort of potluck- everyone would bring one of their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, given that they could find the ingredients here in Spain (which proved to be more difficult than one might expect!) My roommate Ruth, for whom this was her first ever Thanksgiving meal, was quite nervous about the whole thing. However, I reassured her that this experience was very new for almost all of us too. I know I, at least, have never really cooked a Thanksgiving meal before. Of course, I'm usually in the house when my mom is cooking, and I help out a bit here and there, but I've never been in charge of preparing the meal myself (nor have i ever prepared it with friends). So, basically, although I'm of course much more familiar with the holiday and the typical foods than Ruth, I also didn't really know what to expect.
I told Christina that I would bring a festive salad (complete with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, raisins, walnuts, garbanzo beans...) because I figured no one else would think to bring that. I also went to Christina's apartment a few hours early to help out with misc cooking tasks. Christina was able to find a turkey at the Corte Ingles (the big department store here)...none of the normal supermarkets carry turkeys! When I arrived at her apartment at 5:15, the raw turkey was still sitting in a bag, and Christina and her roommates were still preparing the stuffing to put inside. So, we were a bit delayed (the goal was to have the turkey in the oven at 4, but since Christina didnt end up getting home from work until 4, that wasn't exactly possible). Anyway, I rushed to help finish up with the stuffing, and in a few minutes, Christina and I were walking across the street with a raw turkey and two tupperwares of stuffing in hand.
Now- you might ask, why were walking across the street with all of this food? Well, Christina doesn't actually have an oven in her apartment. But, her landlord lives just around the corner, and was nice enough to let us use her oven! So, we arrive at the landlord's house, take out the turkey, clean it, and attempt to figure out what to do with the huge bird. I have never cooked a turkey before and Christina is a vegetarian, so it was quite a hilarious situation. But, sure enough, we figured it out, with the help of a recipe and some online videos, and stuffed that bird with our stuffing, and got it into the oven as quick as possible. Then...the mad dash back to Christina's apartment to help her roommates with the rest of the food.
Over the next few hours we (Christina, George (another Fulbright), Christina's roommates and I) were busy at work, chopping and preparing all sorts of vegetables- mushrooms with onions, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, and squash. The kitchen was quite hectic, to say the least. At the same time, it was really fun to be there with friends, all cooking together and preparing for the rest of the guests. Christina had invited everyone to come at 8 pm, and we knew that the turkey was now not going to be ready until about 10. So...we were a little worried, but decided that most people would arrive late anyway (everyone was doing last minute cooking, plus we are all on Spanish time now!). Anyway, at 7:40, we were just finishing up all of the vegetable dishes, and ran back over to the neighbor's house to check on the bird. As expected, it was still quite raw, so we came back to Christinas place to attempt to tidy up a bit.
Next, another Fulbrighter, Jason, came over, and the two of us prepared some hot wine on the stove. Christina and i had really enjoyed this yummy drink in Budapest and had decided that it would be fun to make for Thanksgiving (its basically red wine, brandy, cinnamon, sugar, oranges, cloves all heated up on the stove). Luckily for us, everyone was late, as we had predicted. At about 8:30, the guests started to arrive. Several other Fulbrighters came, all bearing different Thanksgiving treats (Kelly, Noel, Kara, Cassandra) and Ruth arrived as well, with her first ever corn bread in hand!!! (which turned out great! yayy Ruth!)
I was absolutely amazed at the spread we had. We were unsure whether or not we would have enough food (we were 13 people in total), but it turned out great! By the time everyone got there, our table consisted of the following items: lots of stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, mushrooms and onions, salad, green bean cassarole, corn bread, two different kinds of sweet potatoes, squash, deviled eggs, and three different pies for dessert!) It was about 9 pm, and we knew we still had about an hour to wait for the turkey, so we decided we could all start eating the other foods, while they were warm, and go back for seconds by the time the turkey arrived. So, we all dug in..and the food was all great!! I was so impressed with all of us :) All of the non-Americans (Ruth, Christina's roommates (a British guy, a Belgian girl and a French girl) and another Mexican friend) all really enjoyed the food as well! It was also just really fun to be relaxing and lauging amongst good friends. It felt really good to share such a wonderful holiday with other people who had never experienced it before. I think they all really appreciated what a nice day it is!
At around 10 pm, Jason, Christina, and George went across the street to check on the turkey. After a few minutes, when they hadn't returned yet, we were starting to get a little worried. But sure enough, a few minutes later, they walked through the door, golden turkey in hand, and all hysterically lauging. I really wish I could have seen the scene they described. Picture this- three 22 year olds walking across the street in Madrid at 10 pm, carrying a huge turkey in a pan (or course, there wasn't really any way to cover the turkey). Apparently, EVERYONE in the street was staring at them and pointing, laughing, oohing and aweing. Apparently some people even congratulated them! I'm pretty sure most of them didn't realize the turkey was for Thanksgiving and also probably didn't understand why they were carrying a huge turkey outside, so i can only imagine how funny that must have been!
So, the turkey arrived AND...it turned out great too!! Christina and I were worried that it would be dry, because we werent really sure that we had done enough to season it. But, it was actually really good; everyone really liked it!! We did a really good job with the food- there were some leftovers, but we ate most of it! The hot wine also went over really well :) We all talked about our different Thanksgiving traditions and even spoke about how thankful we were to have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving in Spain with people we care about :)
A little later..it was time for dessert! I was already completely stuffed..but that is a sign of a good Thanksgiving, right? We told all the non-Americans that if there is one day when you are not allowed to worry about how much you are eating, it's Thanksgiving!! Of course..at home, I would have eaten a lot earlier, and had a few hours to sit on the couch watching football or whatever else! Anyway, we had three different wonderful pies- a pumpkin pie, a pumpkin walnut pie, and a pecan pie. And, someone even brought ice cream! The desserts were all wonderful, just like all the other food!
Around midnight, the celebration began to wind down and people started to head out (some people were even travelling the next morning!) Over all, it was a really wonderful night- the whole experience made me feel really at home, which is hard when you are thousands of miles from home during such a family-orientated holiday like Thanksgiving. While I'm excited to be home again for Thanksgiving next year, I will never forget this very special Thanksgiving that I celebrated here in Madrid.
Ohhh and I almost forgot- we might be having a Thanksgiving 2 soon, because all of my other Spanish friends are anxious to experience the holiday as well (and im sure after Ruth raves about all of the food, they will be even more excited!) Soooo..we'll see what happens! Anywayyy....happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
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