Día de Acción de Gracias

(a week late! sorry!)

Last Thursday, unlike all of the students in the US, I had class. Three classes, actually. Somewhat of a bummer. But after finishing up at 4, I went over to Will's house and we made a pumpkin squash pie. The local market and the supermarket didn't have any pumpkins, so we made do with a European squash.

Cuttin' Squash

Mashin' squash

Mixin' squash

Pourin' squash
 

We had bought a crust from the grocery store, but it was quite shallow, so we ended up keeping the outer shell to add more space. Some leaked out the bottom... But it worked. We removed it when we took the pie out of the oven and it worked perfectly - the pie held its shape (towering over the tiny crust).

Will prepared the turkey, and his host mom prepared a salad and mashed potatoes. Somehow Will even managed to find (good!) cranberry sauce at the supermarket. It was a tasty meal.

the set-up

We ate the cena a la gringo (... American dinner) with Will's host family - his host tía, Nelly, and the two other Chilean students staying there, Leyla and Kathy - as well as Kathy's boyfriend and a friend of Leyla's.

Eatin' squash

It was a delicious meal and the company was excellent, but I did miss being home with my family.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year because it combines some of the things I love most - family, friends, and good food. This is the first year I can remember that we haven't hosted Thanksgiving at our house in CT. My favorite tradition (though discontinued at this point) was always Thanksgiving hockey. At home, Abby and I would usually make pies the day before Thanksgiving, and hopefully get a game of frisbee in with our friends. Then on Thanksgiving Day I looked forward to when people started arriving - when enough cousins and friends were there, the hockey would commence.

There's something perfect about warming up while playing hockey on a brisk, November day, then going inside to be tempted by the smells wafting out from the kitchen. But inevitably you end up waiting for hours more than expected to try the food...  Even if we say we're going to eat at 4:30, it usually ends up being 6:30 at the earliest before we can taste the delectable creations.

So to all my U.S. readers: I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgivings!

(And now we can all start listening to Christmas carols without feeling guilty. ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬)