Thanksgiving in Portugal

    While many people in America are gathering today with their families, feasting on too much food, and sharing what they're grateful for, the last Thursday of November in Portugal is just another day. Kids are still in required to attend school, adults are still showing up for work, and there is no feast come supper time. It truly is just another day.

    Fortunately, for me, this provided the perfect opportunity to share a little of American culture with my classes. While I wasn't the one who got to explain what it is or why we celebrate it, I was at least able to share with the kids a day in the life of an American on Thanksgiving Day.

    As today is my longest day volunteering, I didn't really plan much for my family for dinner. If anyone knows anything about Thanksgiving dinner, it's that it takes HOURS to prepare. I remember my mom would always start a day or two early in order to ease the workload. Granted, that's when she's cooking for more than 15 people, but to spend days preparing a meal? No thank you. And the idea of having my very first Thanksgiving where I'm the cook, preparing a meal for someone who's never had those types of dishes before and is expecting something marvelous when, in reality, it's only so-so - I can't deal with that kind of disappointment in my life right now.

    So, instead of slaving away in the kitchen hour after hour preparing food I don't really fancy myself anyways, I decided to choose one recipe I really like from Thanksgiving: persimmon pudding. 

    Yes, yes, I know persimmon pudding is more of a fall thing and not a Thanksgiving thing. At Thanksgiving there is always pumpkin pie, but persimmon pudding is also an Indiana thing and seeing as how the area of Portugal that I'm currently located in has fresh persimmons this time of year as well, it seemed fitting.

   My family had never tried persimmon pudding before. They had only ever tried the fruit itself. (Opposite of me - I still haven't tried it!) 

    I was a little worried since it was my first time ever actually making the pudding, but they seemed to really like it. Victor even went for seconds! 

    I'm starting to really consider making that dinner, though... maybe tomorrow I'll find the energy. Until then, I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to volunteer here. I've experienced so much since my first day and I'm extremely lucky and even more grateful to have this family to share this experience with. <3