Obviously the American holiday of Thanksgiving does not have any intrinsic significance in Spain. No Pilgrims landed on the Barceloneta beachhead, there were no Indians to contend with, and turkey isn´t an indigenous bird here. However, with the incursion of transient expats like us, and the familial bonding that takes place during this national holiday in the US, the longing for sweet potatoes and too much dessert overwhelms the Yankees here and – well – Thanksgiving happens. What´s cool is that there seems to be a small fascination on the part of the Catalan folks – at least the ones who encounter us Americans – to try out the Thanksgiving cuisine and get some sense of how this gluttonous feast brings us all together.

We celebrated twice this year…on the evening of the holiday itself, Andrew and I headed to our old neighborhood near the Arc de Triumph to The Deli Shop. The Deli Shop was started by a New York couple who came to Barcelona 6 years ago after abandoning corporate jobs looking for a different lifestyle. The venue is a combination of delicatessen specialty retail, a cooking school, and a space for rent to do special occasion activities. They have a roster of chefs they use who specialize in all sorts of ethnic cooking, and also bring in English-seeking ones if the need arises. Last year, they started a “Thanksgiving buffet” offering that was so popular that they repeated it this year and had more than a full house. They had roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, the whole meal deal (hungry again?). And the more than 75 people who showed up were not all Americans. We chatted with people from Nordic countries, UK, and Catalans. They LOVED the different type of food and were apparently curious about the tradition…so it was a truly multicultural encounter.

On the Saturday following, a lovely family we have become friendly with invited us to their home for a Thanksgiving afternoon feast – this was much more like the kind we´d have with family back home (and believe me, we missed that terribly). This family has four lovely teens that go to the school with Eitan and Brenda is a classmate of mine in Español 2. They have a great home just outside the main part of the city, and we had a very relaxed and filling afternoon together. We toted home the traditional leftovers, went into a tryptophan stupor, the works.

While getting to talk to the rest of our family who were spread over the US ‘- Ari with my parents and brother´s family in LA, and Ruthie in Pittsburg with her friend Kara´s family (Kara is undergoing medical treatment at the moment) – it was a bittersweet time. We are thankful for the new friends here who have welcomed us so warmly into their homes and hearts, but it isn´t the same as having our family right there next to us groaning about not being able to take another bite. This is a compromise that is the most harsh in the tradeoff for this cultural experience we have jumped into. We are also grateful that planes fly and that soon, soon, we will have our kiddos and my parents close at hand.

I am so very, very thankful for the chance to share this journey with Andrew and Eitan – and for the ability to bring together the rest of our brood to at least taste what we are experiencing here. Thank goodness all the turkey will be gone by the time they arrive!

Hasta pronto!