The World is your Oyster...: Giving Thanks...

As Thanksgiving Day approached I couldn't help but start to miss home a little bit more. It's strange to know friends and familiy are all gathering together to carry out their Thanksgiving traditions yet be living in a country where all they know of this holiday is the giant, beautiful dinners Hollywood portrays in the movies. I have to admit Thanksgiving and the customs it entails is something I've always taken for granted until living abroad. In Spain, they don't sell turkey (or it's hard to find), there's no stuffing, no cranberry suace...no pumpkin pie...you get the picture. So it made celebrating Thanksgiving a little bit challenging, yet with a group of "teachers" we used our creative juices to put together quite the feast. The table was set for 15 and among those 15 we had a mixture new friends both American and Spainish. It was awesome to be able to share what we are thankful for and to share it with a new culture. The Spaniards were amazed with the flavors of the dishes and at the portion size. The menu consisted of Butternut squash soup, mac n cheese, chicken, a sweet potato and beet dish, salad and green been casserole, all home made. I luckily was in charge of dessert and proudly bought a delicious truffle cake at the supermarket. Don't judge I don't have an oven or much baking skills. But who cares where it came from cause everyone loved it and there wasn't any left to take home. Thank god. Along with our food we had accumulated about 20 bottles of wine as of course it was the easiest thing for people to bring. Don't worry we didn't drink them all.

More importantly than the food and wine, I am thankful for many things this year. This year is the first out of college, and it couldn't really be going any better. While my life in Spain isn't really "real world" quite yet, I am still grateful for this experience and all of those who have supported me to get here and continue to support me while I'm here. I also feel rather grateful to be employed in a country where many are struggling financially or without work. And as much as I hate to say it, I am grateful for all the students that I am exposed to on a daily basis, even though sometimes I just want to scream. I know they are teaching me more than I even realize and will continue to teach me things about life even after I return to the states. Lastly, living and working abroad continually makes me grateful and proud to be a citizen of our country. I think the reason why is obvious and I'm already looking forward to returning to my motherland!