Thanksgiving in Argentina

Amelia and I decided we wanted to create a tradtional Thanksgiving for our roommates and a couple new friends. We set out to the verduleria and bought four bags full of vegetables and fruit and then visited our local supermercado- Coto, for the rest. It turned out really well. We made stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, carrots, fruit salad, corn bread and…..chicken. Turkey isn’t easy to come by here so the chicken had to do. They were amazed by all of the food and it’s true it was quite a bit. Of course this didn’t help the image that estadosunidenses (US residents) eat a lot. At least we’ve gotten the point across that not all estadosunidenses don’t just eat McDonald’s.

It’s interesting how the recipes derived in North America used down here turn out differently. Number one our stove doesn’t have a temperature setting so we have to guess. Also, the ingredients are exactly the same, and everything down to the water is slightly different. Elevation wouldn’t affect it since we’re at sea level here.

I told them how Thanksgiving was the welcoming feast between the european immigrants and the natives. Someone quickly pointed out that friendship didn’t last too long…so I told them how my grandmother always makes us say what we are thankful for and how people traditionally say grace. Well nobody wanted to say grace….and I was just fine with that. Argentines are not the most religious people I have found, for good reason, with the many political problems the church egged on/supported over the years. But you can bet you’ll find a picture of Jesús on everyone’s refrigerator.

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