A week before Thanksgiving, I made a food game for the kids, which ended up being sort of a disaster, but really quite fun for them. I gave them photos of typical Thanksgiving foods, and the names of others, and they had to find their partners. Then we made a poster. It was fun. I wanted to bring in something for them to eat, but apparently the budget for the bilingual class doesn't cover edible supplies, and I spent a decent amount of my own money on the Halloween cupcakes, so that was out this time.
So, Thanksgiving dinner #1: Saturday, November 20th.
Sheena and I hosted our Spanish and American friends for a Thanksgiving feast/ extravaganza. We had about 20 people in all, and all the traditional foodstuffs, minus cranberry sauce. As per usual, I made the turkey. It was one of the most stressful experiences of my life, as I ended up lighting the oven on fire! Fortunately, I had already taken the turkey out, but spilled grease which immediately ignited into flames that flew up the cupboard. I realized in the split second in which I was madly screaming, facing the fire that raged out of my oven and threatened to burn down my entire apartment building, that I didn't know the emergency numbers for Spain. That was my thinking. Then I slammed the oven door shut, and it went out. THANK YOU fight or flight intuition. Fortunately, the smell of smoke abated by the time our guests arrived, and nothing was actually damaged. It was a good lesson in slowing down while in the kitchen, however.
Anyway, it ended up being amazingly fun, the Spaniards loved the food, and all went over well. We have about ten desserts. That was fun. :-)
Oh the Turkey. I'm proud to say that this is the second turkey I've cooked for Thanksgiving at the age of 22. I think it's a pretty good record personally.
Looks like home, yes?
We managed to fit everyone (barely) by using our kitchen table, living room table, and my desk. We were short on Chairs, so four of us brought the couch to the table.
Looks like home, yes?
Americans Megan and Elyse:
Spaniards Miguel, Alejandro, and David (our landlord):
Laura (one of our landlords, she actually grew up in this apartment) and Elyse. By the way, the silhouette of the man in the background is a cardboard cut out that Sheena and I found outside a clothing store and brought home. On the other side, it's a black and white photo of some model, and we brought it home as a joke for Callie. I realize it might look a little strange, so thought it merited an explanation.
Thanksgiving dinner #2:
At the Escola Oficial de Idiomas (official language school) of Ferrol, the English students held a Thanksgiving dinner, for some "authentic" American food. They had Turkey, mashed potatoes, a little stuffing, and desserts. Wasn't bad, but ours was better. Three of us gave a short presentation about Thanksgiving, and I talked about the history, which fortunately I was well versed in because of my class presentations. Ended up in the newspaper the next day, too which was fun! Woo! Two months here, and I already got my picture in the paper! (Don't worry mom, I saved it. )
Thanksgiving dinner #3:
In Santiago de Compostela, my American friends hosted another Thanksgiving. The food was amazing, the company wonderful, and the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie made everything taste like home. I also met four very sweet Belgian students studying abroad who offered me places to stay and advice about Belgium. (Two days earlier I had impulsively bought a rather expensive trip to Brussels for five days on my own, with no plan. My next post will be all about that trip.) The three on the left are my wonderful new Belgian friends, and on the right is Katarina, Ali's German Roommate, and Aaron, an American from SUNY Albany.
This is Ali. She;s from Sacramento by way of New York. She's wonderful, and cooks like a goddess.
Oh cranberry sauce...
All right, I'm finally almost up to date. Next up..... Belgium!!!
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