Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving in Spain was a success! :) On Saturday afternoon, Brendan and I along with Rebecca from my master's program and her friend Alison hosted the traditional feast in my apartment. It was such a great experience because the other six people that we shared the dinner with had only ever seen or heard about Thanksgiving in American movies. First time "Thanksgiving'ers" were my roommate Esther (Spanish), my Rotary host counselor's daughter, Eva (Spanish), and friends from class: Maribel (Spanish), Cristina (Greek), Elena (Estonian), and Mohammad (Iranian). One of my favorite parts about the meal was when they all said that they felt like we were in a movie and they all added how they never thought they'd be a part of a Thanksgiving dinner. I could tell that they really all felt so happy to be sharing the day with us and I for sure felt thankful that they were all there. The dinner could not have happened without the help of everyone.

Getting ready to "give thanks" (in 3 different languages, by the way: Spanish, English and French)

Pictured from left to right: (Brendan, Rebecca, Alison, Elena and Cristina)

Pictured from left to right: (Mohammad, Maribel, Eva and Esther)

I think this is my favorite picture of the whole day because it captures the true essence of Thanksgiving- everyone talking and passing around the food :)

Brendan's plate, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, cheddar biscuits and cranberry sauce! Yum!

Dessert time: Estonian apple pie made by Elena (top), traditional pumpkin pie made by Rebecca & Alison (bottom right) and No-bake pumpkin pie made by me (bottom left)

Brendan and I happy to be together and to have some pumpkin pie! :)

Elena and Cristina enjoying the dessert

Rebecca and Alison- super happy to be eating pumpkin pie! Look at those grins!

Oh my gosh, we were so stuffed! What a good day!

My Rotary host counselor's daughter (Eva) and I

My roommate Esther and I

Pretty fall leaves (just starting to turn colors here)

My friend Maribel (from Murcia, Spain) and I

And to finish up, below is a little video that Brendan took of our Thanksgiving dinner (please take note that he is speaking Spanish!!) :) ha ha- Yay! I'm so proud of him!

Gone Turkey Hunting in Salamanca (Spain that is)

Yep, that's right! Even though I am far away from home, the tradition will go on!!! :) I am very sad to not be at home with my family, but I'm not going to let that keep me down. Brendan, along with Rebecca (an American classmate from my master's program) and Alison (an American friend of Rebecca's) and I will be sharing this most wonderful feast with my two roommates and a few friends from the master's program in my apartment this Saturday. In preparation for the Thanksgiving dinner, I knew I had to go out "hunting" as soon as possible for the most important part of the feast: "el pavo" (the turkey). The thing is, I knew turkey existed here, but I knew it wasn't quite as popular as "jamones y embutidos" (hams and sausages) (which are an essential part of this region of Spain's diet). In any case, I was lucky enough to get the help of my Spanish friend, Maribel, who said she wouldn't mind coming with me to "una carnicería" (a meat shop) to scope out the situation. In the end, we decided to go straight to "el mercado" (the market) which sells fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and seafood everyday. It turns out, that out of ALL of the vendors there (and there are MANY that sell meats and poultry) that only one place sold turkey!! I was getting a little discouraged at first seeing stand after stand with only ham and sausages hanging from the ceiling, but finally we found what we were looking for :) The sad part is that it had to be the only one with rabbits hanging from the ceiling, complete with all their fur, ready to be sold as dinner... while all I could think was how I see those little guys romping around my backyard at home and they are so cute! :( Needless to say, with the thought of Thanksgiving in my mind, I pressed on.

Once it was my turn to order, Maribel and I told the butcher that we wanted a turkey in order to do a traditional American dinner on Saturday. Unfortunately, the butcher told us that he doesn't usually sell the whole bird, as I noticed right away because he only had turkey breasts. I'm not gonna lie though, the thought of cooking the whole bird here sounded a little overwhelming to me, so I was completely fine with the idea of buying the turkey breast all nice and clean and ready to cook :) ha ha! Anyways, he was very nice and informed us that he gets a fresh order of turkey on Wednesdays and Fridays so it would be better for us to come back Friday, and that way I could also buy a few turkey legs if I wanted, too. Maribel and I both agreed, as we did not like the idea of having raw turkey in the fridge for 4 more days. Mission accomplished! :)

Now, all that's left to do is start planning who's going to prepare what of all the other important dishes. Thanks to my mom and Brendan's mom, we will be able to have two pumpkin pies, stuffing and cranberry sauce, and Rebecca has also volunteered to make her amazing version of Red Lobster's "Cheddar Bay Biscuits." Oh my gosh, I seriously can't wait-- my mouth is already watering!! I'll be sure to take pictures to document it all and I'll write about it in my next post!

Alright... I better get back to planning this feast (oh yea, and I guess I should probably study and do my homework, huh? ha ha!) But before I do, I wanted to wish you all a very

¡FELIZ DÍA DE LA ACCIÓN DE GRACIAS!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I'm so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family, and soon to be family- the Shea's :) For my parents and brother who I love so much because no matter what, they have always been there for me-- I miss you so much! For Brendan, the love of my life, who didn't even think twice to follow me half way across the world-- I don't know what I would do without you. Also, for Rotary for allowing me the amazing opportunity to live and study in Spain. And last but not least, even though it may sound a little silly, I am thankful for Skype which has allowed me to stay connected with my loved ones and always feel just a little bit closer to home.

Hello to Rotary District 7120

Here is a little 4 minute video of me talking a little bit about Salamanca, my masters program and my experiences so far with Rotary. I will let you know, there are a few times when I lose my train of thought-- so I apologize, as I realize this is not the best speech I have ever made, ha ha. The truth is, I am surrounded by Spanish so much that I do find it hard to speak and think in English at times. Also, I will admit that it made me nervous speaking in English with so many people walking by me and staring (probably thinking.... hmmm... what is that girl doing?) ha ha! Anyways, I hope this video helps to give you a little bit of an idea of what my experience in Salamanca is like so far. Enjoy!

P.S. I had my first dream in Spanish two nights ago since being here in Salamanca (the last ones I had were 3 years ago when I was in Valencia! :) (I've always heard that once you start dreaming in a foreign language, you know that's when you've really got it!) So excited!

Life around the "piso" with 2 Spanish girls

I've been meaning to write this post for the longest time! I know many of you are probably curious to hear about my living situation, so here it finally is!! I live in a 3 bedroom apartment in a very centric part of the city with 2 Spanish girls, Esther and Ana (pictured below). I feel so fortunate to have been put in contact with them through my Rotary host counselor's daughter, Eva, because they are a pretty good match for me. (The only thing I wish was that Spain saw smoking cigarettes a little more like we do in the U.S.) In any case, we really get along so well! There are many times that we will eat meals together, we joke around a lot together, and whenever they have friends over they always invite me to hangout with them. Besides being good company, one of the best parts is that by living with two Spanish girls I am even more exposed to the Spanish language, so it has really been great in helping me improve my Spanish (both listening and speaking skills!)

Here is a picture of the three of us having lunch together in our kitchen one afternoon.

Above is a picture of Esther. She is from Santander (the north of Spain), 22 years old, Senior Psychology student at the private University of Salamanca

Above is a picture of Ana and the lunch she made us. She is from Badajoz (Extremadura), 22 years old, Senior Education student at the private University of Salamanca.

This is Bolita (which means "Little Ball") Ana's hamster who we play with a lot :)

A view of the closet in my bedroom, and of course, pictures of home taped on :)

Where I do all of my hard work and studying!

Rotary flags on display!

Refrigerator (a little small for 3 girls) and microwave

Washing machine and sink

NOTE: (Dishwashers are not common and neither are clothes dryers)--

2 things I REALLY REALLY miss!

Gas stove and oven

Our retro style kitchen :)

Bathroom

Gotta love the olive green tiles- ha ha!

Hallway

Entryway to the apartment (I really love the mirror- typical Spanish!)

Living Room- The girls really like classic Hollywood movies (as you can tell from the posters)

Living Room