Praguesgiving

Hi all, and happy belated Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love fall, I love food, and I love getting to see my family. Whether it’s playing Pirates of the Caribbean pinball and fighting over the last butterhorn roll at Grandma and Grandpa H’s or having eating contests and Wii competitions with the  cousins at Grandma and Grandpa M’s, I LOVE Thanksgiving with my extended family. It’s an excuse to get together, eat good food, and just be glad that we have each other, without the stress of the Christmas season.

I woke up a bit sad on Thursday. At first it felt just like any other day. But in the back of my mind, I knew that it was Thanksgiving and I wasn’t with my family. I moped around my apartment for a large part of the day.

The best way to stave off homesickness is to spend time with other people. Most of the people I knew in Prague are also spending the holidays away from their families for the first time. I know several people who live in the same apartment building, about two blocks from where I live. We got together and made eggplant parmesan.

As we joked, laughed, and learned our way around an unfamiliar kitchen, it started to feel like Thanksgiving. Or at least something like Thanksgiving. True, when we sat down to feast I was eating eggplant and pasta instead of turkey and mashed potatoes, and I was sitting on the floor instead of at Grandma and Grandpa M’s ping-pong-table-turned-dining-table, but I still had things to be thankful for.

We went around the room and said what we were thankful for – pets, families, and friends both at home and abroad were at the top of the list – and things were good.

About these ads