Island Thanksgiving

Different is the best word I can think of to describe this Thanksgiving. Now, I don't mean different in a bad way, but when I think back on past Thanksgivings, this one was quite different. I grew up spending Thanksgiving in beautiful New England surrounded by family and delicious food, breathing in the cool crisp air, playing football (sometimes in the snow), and shooting some guns. Some years we would even go Black Friday shopping. Then I went off to college in Florida, and Thanksgiving was different with the air not so cool. I spent it with only my sister one year, then only Luke and friends for the next three years. Last year, I was back in New Hampshire on break from teaching, and spent one more Thanksgiving with my family and Luke. It was just perfect, complete with some Black Friday shopping with my sister and brother in law.
Fast forward to this year. This year was almost completely different. My last name is different this year,  for one thing, and as it was our first married Thanksgiving, it made sense that we should be starting our own traditions. Although,  upon reflection, I think we'll wait on starting traditions, as being alone and studying don't seem like good traditions.Thanksgiving is an American holiday, so it isn't even celebrated here. Luke had classes in the morning with a lab in the afternoon. I did some baking in the morning, and except for the time that the maid was here, I was alone most of the day.  There was no cool, crisp air here and no snow. It was in the eighties all day. 


We were invited to share a Thanksgiving meal with our neighbors, so while Luke studied, I made a dish my mom used to make called cranberry whirls over turkey. Since turkey is really expensive here, so I used chicken. I heard that someone paid 90EC for a Turkey, which is approximately $40USD. Thankfully for me, substituting chicken for turkey in my dish turned out well.



Even without turkey or pie, the food was so good that everyone felt so happy as we ate mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner rolls, stuffing, salad, and cranberry whirls over chicken. For dessert we had pumpkin bars. Everything was so delicious, and as I sat there enjoying every bite and listening to the talking and laughter surrounding me, I felt extra thankful that even though Luke and I are thousands of miles from family, we had each other and our medical school family. 




After the meal, we headed back to our apartment, so Luke could continue studying for his physiology quiz and I could FaceTime my parents.
While this Thanksgiving was different, we still have so many reasons to be thankful! We had a wonderful island Thanksgiving!

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