Gracias

Día de Acción de Gracias. That means Thanksgiving in Spanish. This year as I awaited the arrival of my favorite day, I found myself in a foreign country and quite unaware of how to reproduce Nashville memories of the past 24 years. How do you buy a turkey anyways? And how many pounds of turkey can one person possible eat? And is that calculated differently if that person is a Spaniard? What exactly in that sugary sauce on top of the yams made out of? And can you buy the crispy things that go on top of the green bean casserole? If so, are they available in Spain? It all began a couple of Mondays ago when I realized that the 24th was just around the corner and many of my Spanish friends were curious about this American holiday of ours. We decided to celebrate together in the apartment of some American friends of mine here and I was left to try to figure out where in the world the turkey was going to come from. After visiting several stores and many odd looks later, I finally found a supermarket nearby that would order me a pavo entero (whole turkey). The owner of the store just looked at me and asked “Americana?” I guess I am that obvious. The turkey came in on Friday along with mom’s recipes through email. After plucking feathers (thanks Lindsey and Amanda) and several pumpkin desserts later, Sunday came. The morning of the dinner, I had the joy of receiving two friends from the States, Andrew and Ben, that were traveling in Europe. To have a sense of old familiarity along with my new familiarity was interesting and wonderful all at once. My Spanish friends came that afternoon and we all got to share several hours of beautiful moments. What made it so great? Maybe it was the look on their faces when we brought out the turkey which many of them had never tried but seen in movies. Maybe it was the mixture of cultures and languages all in the space of a red living room. Or the sense of family and friendship in a country that is not my own, but I love. Whatever it was, the experience will not soon be forgotten.