Our Thanksgiving has always consisted of the same two families coming to our house. Occasionally, a foreign friend of my dad's or a cross country coach joined us, and recently, we had been missing one of my sisters, but I could always count on those same families joining us for our special meal. I could always count on the same foods being there, even our wierd tradition of having jello. I didn't expect those things to ever change, but I knew that if I went abroad this year, my Thanksgiving would obviously be a little different.
I have never spent a holiday away from my family before, so I was expecting it to be a little hard. Knowing that my whole family was together enjoying their holiday while I just went about my daily business here was very rough for me and I was pretty homesick because of it. But I tried my best to combat the homesickness by doing "Thanksgiving things". I made a hand turkey Wednesday night and I told my friends at school about the holiday on Thursday. But nothing was really making me feel better. Until Leah, one of the other exchange students here, texted me on Saturday and asked if I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family on Sunday night. I happily agreed and the madness of trying to prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal began.
I baked an apple pie for the occasion and then went to Leah's house to help cook the rest of the meal. We proceeded to spend the next 5 hours creating many different dishes and just generally making a mess. We made turkey (so yes, I have now eaten turkey in Turkey), mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, and gravy, as well as banana bread pudding for dessert. We played music and sang and laughed and just had a generally wonderful time. We had a few issues throughout the day (namely the bowl we were reheating the gravy in exploding and spilling everywhere) but all things considered, we thought it turned out pretty well.
The other two exchange students here came over and we all sat down to eat. Before we started, we went around the table and said what we were thankful for this year and then we dug in. Everything was delicious, especially the stuffing and the desserts. We had such a wonderful time making our meal and Leah's family seemed to enjoy it. It was exactly the thing I needed to take my mind off being homesick and I was so happy to get to celebrate such an Anerican holiday when I am 6,000 miles away from America.
Our stuffing baking. We had to get a little creative with ingredients and Leah decided we would use pomegranate seeds instead of cranberries. It actually tastes really good like that.
Leah straining our gravy after too much flour was added and it got a little chunky.
Our gravy post reheating explosion.
All of our food on the table ready for eating.
Me and Leah with our feast in our super cute aprons.
The desserts. My apple pie is on the right.
And now, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a list of a few things I am thankful for this year:
- I am thankful for my family, and especially my parents, at home in the US for supporting me throughout this entire journey and for allowing me to go on this life changing adventure
- I am thankful for my host family here who allowed me to come into their home when I was a complete stranger and for putting up with my lack of Turkish and my general awkwardness here
- I am thankful to all of the people I've met here who have taken me in and helped me through these last few months
- I am thankful for my friends at home who have kept in touch and who have cheered me up whenever I've been sad
- I am thankful for all of the incredible oppurtunities I have had and for all the ones I will have in the rest of my time here
- I am thankful for the other exchange students here with me, who listen when I'm sad, who can always make me laugh, and who truly understand what I am going through
- And I am incredibly thankful for YES Abroad and AFS because without them, I wouldn't be in this amazing country having my crazy adventures and meeting these incredible people
This Thanksgiving was pretty different than the ones of my past, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I will be able to tell the story of my Turkish Thanksgiving for the rest of my life, and I really love that. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading! Hoşçakal!
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