Besides my week of Spanish flu when Mom was in town when I wanted nothing more than my pillow-top mattress and an English-speaking doctor, this past week brought with it the biggest dose of homesickness yet. Mostly I've been busy and enjoying myself enough that although I often think of home, it doesn't bother me terribly being here instead of there. But this Thursday was Thanksgiving, and pictures, phone calls, and even Facebook statuses reminded me of just how homey and wonderful America can be.
However, I got two packages from family that helped make Thanksgiving over here a pretty great occasion. My Florida family made sure I was included in some very important family traditions concerning thankfulness and candy corn. :-) And Mom made it possible to make honest to goodness pumpkin pie all the way over here in Spain.
My roommates and I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner last night. We split the dishes and the cost, and we came out with: turkey (and by turkey I mean two chickens), mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, bread, corn, and pumpkin pie. I was in charge of the beans and the pie, and although both were about as simple as cooking gets, I was nervous about the outcome. Based on people's responses at dinner, though, I think they were both pretty successful.
It was quite a feast, and we had some great company. At one point, I sat back a bit and looked around the room: we looked like a mix-n-match family that just happened to all be around the same age. The Americans talked about everything from regional phraseology in the States to really out-there movies from the 60s and 70s. And the Spaniards joined in with equally great conversation. The room was warm, the wine was tasty, and we had just the right amount of food to go around. Also, we made feather headdresses with leftover craft materials from one of my Thanksgiving lessons--terribly politically correct AND entirely appropriate for wearing both at the dinner table and out to a few clubs afterwards.
And so, Spain can be homey too. And I love it.
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