Thanksgiving in Spain

Halloween passed all but unnoticed. It's becoming more international these days, and coincides enough with All Saints Day that there was something slightly special about it here, but nothing extraordinary. I was travelling in Galicia, and in Muros that day there were a few smashed pumpkins here and there, and I drank chocolate with rum and after Sara and Colleen left for Madrid I cooked cheese tortellini with pumpkin sauce and went to a concert with a girl from my hostel.

Thanksgiving on the other hand is totally absent, and somehow more noticeable because of it, and because I'm here in Pamplona. Everyone's facebook status and Skype messages are that they miss their family and want to go home and some of the international students (none of my friends) are even putting on little Thanksgiving dinners in miniature - limited both by what they know how to cook themselves, and on available ingredients. It's harder to ignore. The truth is I'm glad to spend only one fall abroad. The Spring won't be so bad - they still have Easter, after all, and we don't even get off school back home for Easter, unless by coincidence.

Today I pondered a trip to Etxauri or at least an hour or two in the library. Instead I stayed home after classes, cooked relleno and some sort of chicken makhani. It turned out a bit British for my taste - too sweet, somehow... but still quite edible. Ana's stuck indoors by the cold (it's supposed to snow this weekend), and when I offered to pick her up a carton of eggs, she sent me with a whole grocery list of ingredients for Pochas. What a jolly thanksgiving. :) Although anything I can think of to have at least the slight feeling is only going to make it worse. No, more or less ignoring it is the best policy. As I said to Melissa, yes, I'm alone for Thanksgiving, but it's not as if everyone around me is baking turkey and sweet potatoes and hugging relatives while I'm eating a turkey and gravy t.v. dinner. Life goes on as normal.

The highlight of the day was talking to my family via Skype. They're at Todd's in St. Louis and it's snowing there. Everyone took turns talking to me - Mom, Dad, Melissa, Todd, Rachel, Tori, Trevor, Ryan, Bob, and even Amy (my little cousin). RJ hadn't arrived yet. Bob and Trevor and Ryan and Todd were weird as always - Bob said he was also going to eat some blood sausage for the holiday, while Todd told me that the U.S. was "probably going to invade Spain... and I think they're going to put me in charge of it." And they held up Tidbit for me to see/talk to... she could hear me calling her and was cocking her head in that adorable way she has. :D She was so confused by my voice coming from the computer!