Thanksgiving

We bring home with us when we leave. Sometimes it becomes more acute for the fact of having left.

Is it just me, or was Thanksgiving extra big this year? I mean, it's always a big holiday, but for some reason, it felt like an extra big deal. Maybe I was just overcompensating for missing the holiday at home.

I celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday the right way-- with a family. It may not have been my own, but there's something irreplaceable about having this huge dinner with a family and eating all of this delicious food. Last year was fun-- a potluck dinner with my fellow Americans-- but this year, it was like Thanksgiving was on display. It had to make its best impression on this Spanish family. (And between you and me, I think we wowed 'em.)

We had it all -- the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, gravy, butternut squash soup, bread, cookies, and pies... with a few Spanish touches as well -- jamón serrano and queso manchego. (Welcome additions, if you ask me.)

I spent Wednesday afternoon making the pies, and yesterday afternoon with the stuffing and sweet potatoes. My whole afternoon yesterday was spent baking and cooking while listening to Christmas music. Best combination ever. Maybe it's the cinnamon candle I've had burning in my room for the last several weeks, or the way the weather has been getting colder, or the fact that it's getting dark really early... Maybe it's the fact that they already have the belenes* set up near the cathedral, and the Christmas lights are going up poco a poco... or maybe it's just the fact that I have a plane ticket to Pittsburgh for December 18th-- But I'm already in the Christmas spirit, and I have been for weeks now. So now that Thanksgiving is over, I no longer have to feel so guilty about listening to the Justin Bieber and Glee Christmas albums. (Oh, what's that? I probably should feel guilty for listening to those?)

Anyway, while Christmas preparation is in full swing, I'm not done yet with Thanksgiving. I still have at least one more round to go. Here's to hoping the third round is just as good as the first two!

*Belén is the Spanish word for nativity. And these belenes are comparable to the 'villages' that a lot of Americans set up under their tree. Next the cathedral, they have booths set up where you can buy all of the little odds and ends that your nativity is missing -- ham legs, fruits and vegetables, kitchen utensils, barn animals giving birth. If you want it, I'm sure they've got it!