Life is Full (and so is my tummy)!

Although I was not with my family on Thanksgiving, I certainly did not miss out on any of the food or fun. My friend Amelia and I decided that we were going to have our own Thanksgiving for our roommates today. So, on Wednesday night after classes ended we walked down to the city center and bought all of the groceries that we needed to create the feast. That was definitely an interesting trip because our plan was to make dinner for 12 people. Do you think the immigration officers in the states will let me through the gate if I told them I had a turkey in my backpack? I might just keep it a secret. 12 people is a lot, so naturally we planned to buy a big turkey. Then we remembered that our ovens were not quite big enough so we got two “smaller” ones instead. Let’s just say the walk back up the hill to our home was a lot more difficult than usual with backpacks full of turkey and liters upon liters of milk and juice as well as bags of potatoes and vegetables galore. I’m pretty sure I earned my second helping of dinner.

On Thursday the chaplaincy at school had a Thanksgiving party for all of the American students, so we got to enjoy a turkey dinner then as well. Boy, do the Irish love their potatoes! We had boiled potatoes, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and they put potatoes in the stuffing as well. I was full of starch for sure. After we ate, a couple of men played music for us and we sang along. It was quite interesting to see what their choices for “American Thanksgiving” music were. The play list was as follows: “This Land is Your Land,” “House of the Rising Sun,” “Fishing in the Dark,” and “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” Yes, I had a very hard time not laughing while we sang them all; especially since they really didn’t know the tunes for most of them. It was a fun night.

Today, we began cooking at 10am and were constantly working right up until our party started at 4pm. I knew Thanksgiving was fun, but I had no idea it could be this much fun. My roommate Angie wanted to watch us make everything because she wanted to make a lasting memory. I may have scared her off while I was cleaning out the turkey, at least I thought she wouldn’t eat anymore. She was enthralled while watching me stick my hand up its. . . neck and squealed every time I pulled out something new. I couldn’t keep from laughing. I kept asking her if she wanted to try and she waited for a long time before she actually did. I’m not sure she will ever do it again. It was fun to prepare everything.

Once everyone filled their plates the only sound that you could hear was the occasional fork scraping the plate. We all just sat and ate. And ate. And ate some more. It was so funny to watch everyone because they’d all take a break for a little bit and talk to make more room and then eat some more. The tryptophan started working quickly as well. I thought a few people were going to fall asleep on their plates.

After we ate the main course we played a fun game of telenary (telephone and Pictionary mixed). It was a blast and allowed our food to settle a little. Then, we ate dessert. And drank cider. And then ate some more dessert. I don’t think I can eat another bite tonight. But now my fridge is full of leftovers and might make enough meals to last the rest of the time that I’m here.

Our night was full of laughter, eating, good conversation, and more laughter and eating. It was so amazing to see people experience Thanksgiving for the first time in their lives and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the holiday. It was an absolutely wonderful night and warmed my heart. Tomorrow a few of us are going to the City Centre to go to the Christmas Market (our own version of Black Friday). I am looking forward to another fun-filled day.