Thanksgiving isn’t observed in Argentina, but we didn’t care. We’re Americans, so we marked the occasion anyway for the second year in a row. Since we couldn’t do it on the actual day, we got together a bit early to fit everyone’s schedules.
One big difference from last year was that we finally had people to invite and share it with. It was also our first house party in Argentina, which made it all the more interesting. We had two fellow American expats, Sarah-Claire and Brian, along with two Argentine guests, Rosalia and Peque, making it a small but meaningful gathering.
My spouse and I have a deeper appreciation for the hard work it takes to make a Thanksgiving dinner party a success, especially while living abroad.
In lieu of turkey (which we couldn't find at the market), we made chicken. We also made mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, stuffing, and two different types of salad. Well, actually, I should say that Zach did most of the work. He's the chef in the family and he's super talented. I concentrated on the house cleaning. When I was done, I helped Zach out with as much of the prep work as I could. Our friends were kind enough to bring cornbread and provide the drinks for us.
The first thing we did was set up the appetizers which consisted of olives, cheese cubes, salami, Doritos, and sliced bread with pesto dip.
Zach and I wanted to have the food prepped by 4 p.m., but nothing ever goes as planned for the holidays, especially in Argentina. Fortunately, our friends were willing to pitch in and peel potatoes, cut tomatoes, and ice the cake.
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| God! She's cheap! Just kidding! She's cool! |
We ate around 5:30 p.m. Fortunately, everyone liked the taste of the food. We were really nervous about that. I tried making sure that everyone had enough to drink and had enough ice in their cups. We all spent a couple of hours getting to know each other better while we ate. We learned a few things about Argentine culture in comparison to U.S. culture from Rosalia and our other Argentine friend, Peque.
Afterwards, we served dessert, which consisted of a chocolate cake, sweet potato pie, apple pie, and an assortment of roasted nuts, chocolate covered raisins, and chocolate covered nuts.
Before everyone arrived, our biggest fear had been that we wouldn't have enough food. I never thought there would be leftovers, but that was a relief. It's always better to have extra than not enough. At least we know that everyone went home happy and on a full stomach.
Being so far from home has been tougher on me than on my husband, but this dinner, this precious moment in time, was beautiful and priceless to me. We had a fantastic meal and an amazing group of people to share it with. Our friends became our family that night. I don't think I could have asked for a better Thanksgiving in my life.
So what am I most grateful for? I'm thankful:
- For the amazing new friends we've made here in Argentina, Sarah-Claire, Peque, Rosalia, Brian, Victoria, Kristen, Bill, Wendy, Andres, Belen (some of whom were not present here)
- For my parents, who provided us with so much in order to survive here
- For our friends back home, Amber, Joey, Stephanie, Tom, Cathy, Ashley, Rose, Drew, and anyone else I may have forgotten to mention
- For our family in New York, Zacsi, Roy, Sam, and Chewy
- For the opportunity to work as a freelance writer thanks to an Aussie expat named Ben, so I can earn some cash until I can land a more permanent job.
- To Argentina for providing us with free healthcare
- For our health
- For Zach, my husband, best friend, companion, and the love of my life
I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. Wishing all of you the very best!
It looks like you had a nice dinner! Congrats on finding such great friends and making Thanksgiving a success there. Happy Belated Thanksgiving from Chile!
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