Abby & I busy cooking in the kitchen
Katie made the mashed potatoes and then took a shower and ran around in her towel dress
You can't tell from the photo, but Abby had tears pouring down her face from chopping the onions and this was our dramatic re-enactment of a scene from Gone With the Wind
Sarah pretending to stir the gravy. In reality it was Abby, Sara H., Katie and I who did all of the cooking
Lovely ladies in the kitchen. The woman to the left of me is Amal, one of the Egyptian women we work with
Silliness
Sarah, Lacie and Mohammed
Sarah & Primo are officially a couple now
Looking at some of the photos I had taken at Mohammed's concert
Our friend Ali was taking bizarre close-up shots of everyone
The technology corner
There's always time for dancing, even if you're in the middle of cooking Thanksgiving dinner
Me, Katie, Sarah & Imy getting ready to feast
This was only one table of food; we had 2 others as well
~
The girls and I had much to be thankful for after our third month in Egypt came to an end. We are living in an amazing new country, we have good jobs, we have made many wonderful new friends, and we have seen and done some incredible things since we have been here. Since we were all bursting with the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to celebrate it in true American style and have a big dinner with a turkey and all of the trimmings.
A few days before the Thursday of Thanksgiving, Katie, Joelle, Sarah, and I went to a large supermarket called Carrefour that is about 10 minutes from our school to get everything we would need. We were determined to have all of the staples of a good Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, and pumpkin pie. We had never seen a turkey for sale in Maadi before, but we thought if any place would have one, it would be Carrefour, the largest supermarket in our area.
We divided up the grocery list and each headed off in a different direction to get the items on our list. An hour later we met back at the check out lanes and found that we had gotten everything we would need for our dinner except for the turkey and the pumpkin pie. They didn't sell canned pumpkin, so Sarah was disappointed because she really wanted to make a pie from scratch. However, Mohamed had told us that there was a dessert shop in his neighborhood that sold pumpkin pies every November, so we knew that we would be able to get one from there. But, we still didn't have a turkey, and you can't have Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey. We asked one of the men working at the deli where he thought we might be able to find a whole turkey, and he told us to try Metro, one of the supermarkets in Maadi that imports a lot of different types of food for the foreign population.
We left Carrefour, dropped the groceries off at our apartment, and set off for the Metro supermarket on Rd. 9 to try to find a turkey there. When we got there, we were pleased to see that they did have whole turkeys, but they were all way bigger than what we were looking for. They only had turkeys that were 18 pounds or larger, and we would not have time to cook a turkey that big. Since we don't get home from work until 3:30 on Thursdays, we wouldn't be able to eat dinner until 11 or 12 that night if we were cooking an 18 pound turkey, so we needed to find something smaller.
We were disappointed that we had struck out twice with the turkey, but we still didn't give up. We remembered that there was a new butcher shop that had opened recently on our street, so we decided to try there and see if they could help us. When we arrived at the butcher's shop, Katie did most of the talking because she studied Arabic in college and knows how to speak it the best. She asked the butcher if he had whole turkeys and he said no, but he could get us one by Wednesday. We asked him if he could get one that was around 12 pounds, and he told us it would be no problem. We were thrilled that we had finally found our turkey, and we were looking forward to throwing a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for our friends.
When Wednesday came, Sarah & Imy went to pick up the turkey because the butcher shop was closest to their apartment. When they got the turkey home, they put it in the refrigerator to let it defrost over night. The next day, on Thanksgiving, Katie and I rushed home after work to get things ready, because dinner was going to be at our house that night. We had about 15 people coming to dinner, so we had a lot to prepare for. Abby and Sara came over shortly after and we preheated the oven for the turkey and started making the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Joelle was at her apartment and was responsible for making the sweet potatoes. Around 4:00 Sarah B. came over with the turkey and left again, because we still didn't have the pies, and she and Imy were going to go and pick them up while the rest of us cooked.
After Sarah left, it only took Abby & I a few minutes to realize that the turkey wasn't completely defrosted. Apparently Sarah and Imy hadn't had the sense to notice this, or the foresight to check and make sure it was actually ready to be cooked. The turkey appeared defrosted on the outside, but it was still frozen solid on the inside! We started to panic, because we had people coming at 7, and we were supposed to be serving dinner at 9. There was no way we had time to wait for the turkey to defrost and then cook it.
We called Sarah and told her she was going to have to go back out and try to find another turkey that was NOT frozen and that was going to be small enough for us to cook in time for dinner. She went back to Carrefour, to Metro, and to the butcher shop, but she had no luck. Metro had large turkeys, but they were all about 20 pounds and were way to large to get ready in time for a 9:00 dinner. However, they had turkey breasts and small chickens at Metro as well, so we told Sarah to just get those instead. We were disappointed that we wouldn’t have a whole turkey for Thanksgiving after all, but at that point there was nothing else we could do.
Sarah returned to our apartment about a half an hour later, dropped off the poultry, and then went home to change and get ready. It was almost 6 by this time, and Abby, Katie, Sara H., and I still had a lot of work to do, but we were up for the challenge. However, minutes later, our next set back came with the sweet potatoes. Joelle showed up around 6:30 and started panicking as soon as I opened the door. "I need someone to come and help me," she pleaded, "I can't get the oven turned on!" "Joelle!" Abby replied, "What the hell? You've been home for 3 hours and you're just now telling us that you can't get the stove turned on?" We couldn't believe it. Making the sweet potatoes was the only thing Joelle had to do and she had promised us that she knew how to make them.
A few days before the Thursday of Thanksgiving, Katie, Joelle, Sarah, and I went to a large supermarket called Carrefour that is about 10 minutes from our school to get everything we would need. We were determined to have all of the staples of a good Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, and pumpkin pie. We had never seen a turkey for sale in Maadi before, but we thought if any place would have one, it would be Carrefour, the largest supermarket in our area.
We divided up the grocery list and each headed off in a different direction to get the items on our list. An hour later we met back at the check out lanes and found that we had gotten everything we would need for our dinner except for the turkey and the pumpkin pie. They didn't sell canned pumpkin, so Sarah was disappointed because she really wanted to make a pie from scratch. However, Mohamed had told us that there was a dessert shop in his neighborhood that sold pumpkin pies every November, so we knew that we would be able to get one from there. But, we still didn't have a turkey, and you can't have Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey. We asked one of the men working at the deli where he thought we might be able to find a whole turkey, and he told us to try Metro, one of the supermarkets in Maadi that imports a lot of different types of food for the foreign population.
We left Carrefour, dropped the groceries off at our apartment, and set off for the Metro supermarket on Rd. 9 to try to find a turkey there. When we got there, we were pleased to see that they did have whole turkeys, but they were all way bigger than what we were looking for. They only had turkeys that were 18 pounds or larger, and we would not have time to cook a turkey that big. Since we don't get home from work until 3:30 on Thursdays, we wouldn't be able to eat dinner until 11 or 12 that night if we were cooking an 18 pound turkey, so we needed to find something smaller.
We were disappointed that we had struck out twice with the turkey, but we still didn't give up. We remembered that there was a new butcher shop that had opened recently on our street, so we decided to try there and see if they could help us. When we arrived at the butcher's shop, Katie did most of the talking because she studied Arabic in college and knows how to speak it the best. She asked the butcher if he had whole turkeys and he said no, but he could get us one by Wednesday. We asked him if he could get one that was around 12 pounds, and he told us it would be no problem. We were thrilled that we had finally found our turkey, and we were looking forward to throwing a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for our friends.
When Wednesday came, Sarah & Imy went to pick up the turkey because the butcher shop was closest to their apartment. When they got the turkey home, they put it in the refrigerator to let it defrost over night. The next day, on Thanksgiving, Katie and I rushed home after work to get things ready, because dinner was going to be at our house that night. We had about 15 people coming to dinner, so we had a lot to prepare for. Abby and Sara came over shortly after and we preheated the oven for the turkey and started making the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Joelle was at her apartment and was responsible for making the sweet potatoes. Around 4:00 Sarah B. came over with the turkey and left again, because we still didn't have the pies, and she and Imy were going to go and pick them up while the rest of us cooked.
After Sarah left, it only took Abby & I a few minutes to realize that the turkey wasn't completely defrosted. Apparently Sarah and Imy hadn't had the sense to notice this, or the foresight to check and make sure it was actually ready to be cooked. The turkey appeared defrosted on the outside, but it was still frozen solid on the inside! We started to panic, because we had people coming at 7, and we were supposed to be serving dinner at 9. There was no way we had time to wait for the turkey to defrost and then cook it.
We called Sarah and told her she was going to have to go back out and try to find another turkey that was NOT frozen and that was going to be small enough for us to cook in time for dinner. She went back to Carrefour, to Metro, and to the butcher shop, but she had no luck. Metro had large turkeys, but they were all about 20 pounds and were way to large to get ready in time for a 9:00 dinner. However, they had turkey breasts and small chickens at Metro as well, so we told Sarah to just get those instead. We were disappointed that we wouldn’t have a whole turkey for Thanksgiving after all, but at that point there was nothing else we could do.
Sarah returned to our apartment about a half an hour later, dropped off the poultry, and then went home to change and get ready. It was almost 6 by this time, and Abby, Katie, Sara H., and I still had a lot of work to do, but we were up for the challenge. However, minutes later, our next set back came with the sweet potatoes. Joelle showed up around 6:30 and started panicking as soon as I opened the door. "I need someone to come and help me," she pleaded, "I can't get the oven turned on!" "Joelle!" Abby replied, "What the hell? You've been home for 3 hours and you're just now telling us that you can't get the stove turned on?" We couldn't believe it. Making the sweet potatoes was the only thing Joelle had to do and she had promised us that she knew how to make them.
Joelle started becoming visibly upset, shook her fists in the air and started yelling, "Somebody come over! I just need somebody to come over and help me!" Sara H. eventually volunteered to go over and help her fix the problem, and the rest of us breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been easier if Joelle would have just brought the sweet potatoes with her so that we could have cooked them at our place along with everything else, but at that point we didn't even want her there because she was flipping out and making everyone tense.
Even though we didn't have a complete turkey for Thanksgiving dinner that night, and we had a few minor problems to deal with, I am happy to say that everything still turned out magnificently. The food was delicious, and everyone had a wonderful time that evening. We gave our Egyptian friends a brief lesson on the history of Thanksgiving and explained to them that it's an important time to appreciate and celebrate all of the blessings in your life.
Before we ate dinner, we went around the table and each of us said what we were most thankful for. Primo actually brought tears to my eyes when he spoke, because he started talking about how hard his life has been over the past few years and that it has been very difficult for him and Mohamed to be living as refugees away from their family and all of their friends. They are completely on their own here, and they don't know from day to day what is happening with their loved ones back home or if they are safe from harm. Primo continued to tell us how much it meant to him that we had befriended him, and that he was so thankful that he had met us and that we had been brought together in this country. We all looked around the table at each other in silence for a moment after he was done speaking, and then we all smiled and hugged each other. We really have been fortunate to have found each other, and I am so thankful that these people have been brought into my life. They are all such wonderful, caring, and unique individuals, and I am so happy that I am here experiencing in this amazing country with them.
P.S. Abby and I cooked the turkey the next day when it was fully defrosted, and it turned out fabulously. We had delicious left overs and turkey sandwiches all week long.
