This year marks the first time in my life that I was fully in charge of preparing Thanksgiving; talk about intimidation! We couldn't celebrate on Thursday since there was no holiday, and we and all our friends were working so I planned for Sunday. I spent the week leading up making thorough lists of menus, recipes and a master shopping list.
Poor Gui, he got back from three weeks of solid travelling to a week of Thanksgiving preparations and trips to the Policia Federal to try to finally finish my residency card paperwork submission. He's tough though. Oh, and on the residency card- after some 12 hours waiting in lines in the span of two days, not to mention travel to and from the headquarters which is 2 and half hours away, BOTH WAYS, I have submitted everything I need and will be getting my card sometime next year. And oh yeah, they won't tell me when it's ready, so I just have to check everyday until then. Oh, Brazil, Brazil. But enough on that, this blog is not for dwelling on the crappy moments in life, and I would like to add that I was very thankful to have Gui there to wait with me rather than go it all alone. He makes life happy. His return was my response to the classic Thanksgiving question: "What are you thankful for?"
So let's move back to happy not crappy!
As Sunday drew near, we got all the ingredients together- including our imported and very essential Cambell's cream of mushroom, Stover's Stuffing, and a can of cranberry sauce. Then Saturday we loaded a mountain of vegetables, butter, milk, canned goods, dry goods, and 2 chickens (cuz hey, Turkey is expensive!) into two backpacks, a large suitcase, and a heavy duty, rice sack grocery bag to make the journey to our friends' house across town. It reminded me of all those times I had to stock supplies before venturing out onto the Oregon Trail. Luckily, no one got Cholera or Typhoid, and the wagon didn't flood when we forged the river, so we made it to their place in just 2 bus trips and a car ride graciously given for the last leg of the journey by our friend, Junior, who picked us up near the bus stop at Mickie D's.
They live in such a chic area we could never have bought all that we did on the same budget. I think we spent like $100 Brazilian Reais on everything! According to Google, that's currently $58 bucks! To feed some 15 people! You do the math, that's awesome!
We went already on Saturday because we'd be doing the meal at Zoe, our house church. It was a good set up because I always wake up way too early when I sleep in a strange place, so when I was up at 7 (with only 5 hours of sleep under my belt) I sprang into action. With girlfriends still sprawled out in the living room adjacent the kitchen, I started banging around to get casserole dishes and pot and pans fired up! By 8:30 there was a massive sweet potato casserole and 2 mac and cheeses all just awaiting the finishing touches. Still, on the girls slept, but some other friends began to appear. Throughout the morning, I spent my time cooking, running to the computer to confirm recipes, and ordering people around! I felt like the master chef, overseeing on all the sous chefs in their work, diping my finger in things, "No, no, more pepper!", giving instructions, "No, a teaspoon is like a little spoon, you know, like a coffee spoon!" (Leave it to Brazil to have measures in coffee spoons instead of tea! :P) What fun! Don't worry, I was a nice boss, and I had some great friends to volunteer to help. They knew the result would be worth it!
In the end, thanks to the help of 7 people, and the meticulous hour-by-hour schedule set forward in my "Thanksgiving Battle Plan," we had just about everything done but the gravy (which comes last anyway) by about 1! There was even time to fit in some Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Then we headed over to another house, the one where we would be eating and loaded some food in a car, the rest being carried on foot to the house a few minutes away. I would have liked to carry it all in a kind of Thanksgiving Dinner parade just to weird out the posh, Brazilian (and many American) neighbors. :P
It was a very successful feast!
Good food - we had the works, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, we did it all! And we did it right! And we used a kilo and half of butter! (Hence I had only one meal that day.)
Good friends - Zoe friends, art and design friends from the nearby university of SENAC, all together talking and laughing and playing games afterwards- not frisbee, but pingpong and basketball.
Somewhere in the midst of it all, I was perched on a stool talking to some friends, and I paused to look out on the scene- a large welcoming living room filled with the people I love best here playing guitars and singing and chatting, and the late afternoon sun flooding in behind from the open door, and it struck me how much I take for granted the blessings I have. And in that brief out-of-body moment, I was able to take a step back and look and be amazed at where I am right now, of how I got here, who I now know, what I have learned.
At the end of the day, we were exhausted, but we were so content. The bus ride back felt like a walk in the park now 50 pounds lighter - though some of that poundage we now carried in our stomachs! And getting home, we were greeted by the little "dumb head," as we have affectionately dubbed our silly pup. We took him out for a bit, and then crashed hard until morning.
