¡Feliz Día de Dar Gracias!

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

This year, I was especially grateful for my time in Bolivia - and for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving, despite being far from home.  Many Bolivians have heard of the holiday because of American TV and movies, but there were plenty of people (from the girls at the orphanage to one of my friends in college) who had no idea what it was.  However, because it is one of my favorite holidays, I was determined to find a way to celebrate it here.  It was definitely a challenge, but very much worth it!

Hunting down the food was the hardest part.  Although most Thanksgiving dishes are made of pretty basic staples (like potatoes) that are easy enough to track down here, a few things were really hard to find.  Some (like pumpkin) aren't common; others (like cranberries) just aren't in season, since it's getting into the hottest part of summer now.  (Especially coming from Minnesota, it felt so strange to be roasting a turkey while wearing a tank top.)

The most precious can of pumpkin ever

I think I went food shopping seven times in four days, in everywhere from open air markets to the biggest and fanciest grocery store in the city.  Eventually, I found everything except cranberries (although it turns out plums are a pretty close substitute).  My favorite moment was when my roommate Ina spotted the last remaining can of pumpkin pie mix high on a shelf, right in front of a group of people milling around looking for something - hopefully not the same thing as us.  Ina lept into action, jumped in front of the group, and snatched the can off the shelf as fast as I've ever seen anyone shop for anything.  Thank you, Ina!

My friend's mom took it out of the baking
pan to serve it - that's how tough it was.

Another challenge was the altitude.  Cochabamba is located about 8,000 feet higher than anywhere I've ever been before, which affects cooking and baking in weird and sometimes unpredicatable ways.  The turkey, for example, didn't take any longer than usual.  The pumpkin pie filling, on the other hand, took almost two hours to set, which meant the crust was in the oven so long that it had the texture of a piece of sheet rock.

Because the mini fridge and oven in my apartment are too small to hold a turkey - let alone a turkey and sides - I had to find somewhere else to cook.  Luckily, I have a friend whose family hosts American study abroad students and is used to foreigners wanting to do weird things like that, and they let me invade their kitchen for the day.  This had the added bonus of letting me get Bolivians' impressions of Thanksgiving food, which were...

1. They LOVED the gravy.  The turkey definitely turned out dry, but everyone loved the gravy so much, they didn't notice.  They kept commenting on how smooth and tasty the meat was when, secretly, it wasn't - it was just the sauce.

2. They thought stuffing made out of bread was the strangest thing.  Apparently, many Bolivians will stuff turkeys with fruits and vegetables for Christmas, but it's nothing like American stuffing.  They also did not understand why I was cooking it outside of the bird.  They liked it, though.

3. They definitely didn't like the "cranberry" plum sauce, though.  Bolivians generally like things either super bland (see: millions of boiled potatoes) or super sweet (the cakes are too sweet for me to eat, and that's hard to do).  Tart and sour are not popular flavors.

So much better than a saltless, pepperless
boiled potato - thanks, Mom!

4. They did, however, like the potatoes I made, despite the fact that they had flavor.  Every potato I've had here has been either boiled or fried with little to nothing in the way of seasonings.  For Thanksgiving, though, I made my mom's baked mashed potato recipe, which includes garlic, green onions, and sour cream - which everyone else seemed impressed by.  I'm hoping to start a flavoring potatoes trend.

5. Everyone was really impressed that I made cornbread (baking's not common here), but they were worried that eating it warm was unhealthy.  I tried to convince them that it's best right out of the oven, but I don't think they believed me.

6. They did not understand that the point of Thanksgiving is eating as much as you possibly can.  Everyone took dainty (healthy) portions of everything and then maybe chose to get seconds of one thing they especially liked.  Then they stopped eating.  It was probably for the best - not being bloated was nice - but it was strange.  I cooked the same amount of food I've made for similar amounts of people the past two years, but there were at least three times as many leftovers this time.

The final spread of everything.  Yay Thanksgiving!