An Italian Thanksgiving

All of the American students in my program felt great pangs of sadness and homesickness on Thanksgiving day. It was all we could talk about at school--our favorite homecooked foods that we craved, our family traditions, the smells, watching the Macy's Day parade and American football....all the little things that make a holiday tradition and that are a part of the meaning of 'home' to us.

Many of us wanted to fix up an American Thanksgiving meal for the occasion, but in Italy, none of the ingredients really exist. They don't eat turkey (they have to be imported in for a hefty amount of euro), yams are probably only sold at the specialty markets in the African districts of the city, there is no cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, stuffing, gravy....so it was virtually impossible to fix such a meal. My roommates and I plus our friends Allie and Julianne went to the Brera Neighborhood of Milano where we received a flyer to go to this nice bar/restaurant where they host 'American nights' complete with American traditional food, movies and such. So they were putting on a thing for Thanksgiving complete with big couches and big screen TVs with American football playing. We figured it'd be a fun and a good way to rekindle those good homey feelings....but then we discovered that the meal itself was 35 euro and not very good so we peaced out of there. Instead, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Mirco's!!! (Our good friend and owner of the Italian restaurant around the corner from our apartment in our sketchy neighborhood). But it was great and Mirco was as amazingly hospitable as ever, chatting it up with us and giving us plenty of free food and alcohol. What a guy! We around the table to say what we were thankful for.....and I also got to skype with my mom that day which was nice. Aaron and Beth are officially married now which is exciting and Joe and Rivitta are planning a trip next summer to visit Rivitta's family in Israel, and they plan on going to Egypt and Dubai as well!!! I am INSANELY jealous of my big bro but SO exciting for him! He deserves it and I'm so happy that he is going to get more opportunities to travel after our family vacation in Italy.

Though Thanksgiving was not like being home, it was comforting to be surrounded by people who understood and felt the same way, missing the same place that they call home. Thanksgiving is a lovely American tradition and I appreciate it's family togetherness....even if the First Thanksgiving was kind of a lie considering what colonizers eventually did to the Native Americans. That should be recognized. Anyways, this Christmas I'm eating to make up for Turkey Day. Va bene.