Once again it was time to be a crazy American and celebrate a holiday that no one in Israel cares about. And in true gluttonous American style, my friends and I had 2 thanksgivings! The first one we had was at my friend Ashley’s house. Her and her boyfriend had people over from each of their programs so we could all eat and meet each other. Since I had the day off of work after my stint on the hospital I was excited to have all the time to cook. I went shopping for ingredients for what I was going to make for the next two days. For the cornbread I could only find corn flour and not cornmeal which changed the consistency of the dish but I think it still tasted ok. And I had to forget about my cinnamon apple cranberry sauce altogether because the closest thing I could find to cranberries was a package of Craisins. I guess that’s why people don’t celebrate here. It has nothing to do with the history of the country, it’s the fact that it is impossible to be thankful without cranberry sauce.
I went up north to Ashley’s house (without getting lost on the bus thank you very much) for Thanksgiving: Part 1 and felt immediately at home with Ashley and her boyfriend. They were both so sweet and welcoming especially since I was intimidated by their REALLY nice place. It is definitely a grown-up apartment, something I feel like I have yet to live in. More people from TASP started arriving and soon it was time for the eating! I think our group kind of missed the “everybody mingle” memo since we mostly hung out with each other, but it was still good bonding time for those of us that were there. I did meet a couple cool new people towards the end though and left Ashley’s feeling happy and stuffed which is equal to nirvana in my book.
The next day was a little more overwhelming since Allie and I were hosting people at our apartment that night. I woke up and began decorating our apartment by cutting out letters and coloring in the pictures of turkeys that Allie brought home from elementary school. I know you are all sitting there laughing at me and my dorkiness right now, but don’t act like you are surprised. After decorating and moving some furniture it was time for my annual apple pie! I have been making this pie (almost always with my Dad) every year since I was even shorter than I am now. I started by making the crust and a GIANT mess and a couple of hours later the pie was in the oven! Soon after that Guille arrived for his first Thanksgiving in time to help/ watch me make corn bread and goat cheese barekas (ok a little Israeliness had to be thrown in somewhere) for the meal.
People began arriving around 8 and brought lots of other yummy food and PLENTY of wine. The wine was so popular that while I was pouring myself a glass (ok plastic cup) a person who shall remain nameless dove across the floor and shouted “RRREGGAAAH”(i.e regah meaning wait) and shoved her glass under the nearly corked bottle and begged for more. We all hung out til around 11:30 when we did a rapid fire clean up and some of us decided to head to a bar. It was another night filled with food and friends so I can’t complain.
Though it was strange not being in the U.S for Thanksgiving it was definitely nice to celebrate it with my friends here. We may have been short on Turkey the second night, but entertainment is never in short supply!
