A Spanish Thanksgiving

It was no surprise that when I showed up for school, yes SCHOOL, Thursday morning of the alleged Thanksgiving Day (I say alleged here because it was hard to be thoroughly convinced of that fact when all the Spaniards around me were going about like it was a normal day), half of the class was missing. A holiday is a holiday no matter where you are in the world so while we are more than willing to embrace the holidays which give us an extended December break and a few 5-day weekends, we couldn’t help but wish that Spain would embrace our holidays too.

I must admit, they did attempt…though it’s no comparison. Our program planned for us a dinner in lieu of our normal Thanksgiving dinner--held in a jazzy restaurant. It was a fun time for all of us to get together, talk,  and just laugh at the peculiar dishes we were being served. I even got to sit at the head of the table...a new Thanksgiving experience to say the least!

My view from the head of the table.

First up: a warm liquid/soup? that was salty and had a kind of smoky flavor…it’s pretty much impossible to explain.

Next: a meat and cheese platter…decent. There were also nuts, and they were delicious!

Thirdly: croquettes and tempura zucchini…I think?

Fourth: another cheese with a few greens sprinkled on top…the cheese was good!

Fifth: a Spanish attempt at turkey. I am told later that it was Turkey relleno which means stuffed, but the stuffed part was so weird, kind of squishy…and it was covered in barbecue sauce. Broccoli was easily identifiable and what we think was mashed potatoes accompanied it.

Dessert: a fruity bread pudding type thing.

To drink we had wine and sangria…not your typical Thanksgiving beverages but we weren’t complaining!

Well, at least they tried…Still looking forward to having Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas though this year! But more than the food, the spirit of the holiday still came through. How could we not be thankful for such an amazing opportunity to travel and study abroad for 3 months and to enjoy it with friends? Or how about for good health and loving, supportive families and friends? Yes, despite the barbecue sauce-covered turkey and the absence of pumpkin pie we still had a lot to be thankful for!

A few of the Morocco Girls + Eugenio (one of our directors)

Afterwards we had a picture slideshow and a video from Morocco so that was cool to see all the pictures and videos of our trip so far! After that we called it a night…the end to a very unique and surely unforgettable Thanksgiving!