November 24th Thanksgiving!

November 24th: THANKSGIVING!!!!
Definitely the BEST Thanksgiving I have EVER had! And one I will remember forever!

It all started with Lauren and I deciding that we needed to celebrate Thanksgiving. We threw a message on the USAC facebook expecting a few people to respond. However, those few people turned into a few more, and those into even more. In the end we had over 30people in our apartment. We had Americans, Italians, and even some French and Australians!!

THANKSGIVING started at San Sisto, the local coffee shop/bar/USAC hangout. It was definitely a memorable morning. Ricardo's mother came into the store wearing a festive orange top and asked if she was dressed appropriately for the Holiday! With her she brought 5 homemade Pumpkin pies! They had decided to make Pumpkin Pie in honor of Thanksgiving for all of the American students. We spent the morning trying to translate Thanksgiving in Italian and eating pumpkin pie! No lie.. Ricardo's mother definitely made the best pumpkin pie I have ever had!

(San Sisto)

Next it was off to class which was weird. Nobody could pay attention because it felt so wrong to be stuck in class on a Holiday! But class wasn't to bad and when it was over we headed back to the house to check on the Turkey!

The previous night we went to the local butcher to get turkey for everyone. When we ordered 6kg of turkey breast (15pounds!) the 1st butcher said "Nooo" and looked super confused. We tried to explain in Italian, but he was not having it and instead gave us 6 slices of turkey. So, we went to another butcher! This time we had an Italian order for us, but even he was confused! He had to repeat the order multiple times and all the people in the store stared! However, in the end we got 2 HUGE turkey breasts, 15 pounds total!

That night we marinated it in a bucket with a bunch of different seasonings! After 12 hours of marinating we threw it in the oven to cook... Only problem.. it didn't fit! Haha! After running to different apartments and looking at peoples ovens we decided that it would be easiest if we just cooked it in two parts... It ended up turning out great :)

(Marinating 15pounds of turkey in a bucket for 12hrs!)

(Thanksgiving decorations!)

(Thanksgiving decorations!)

(Final product!)

Everyone who came to the party brought a dish of their own. Most people brought something that they usually make at Thanksgiving with their family. We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, veggie plates, and yams!

(Final product!)

(Yams!)

(People!)

(Food!)

(People!)

During the party we had pens and paper and asked everyone to write what they are thankful for and put it in the "Thankful Bag" After dinner we passed around the "Thankful Bag" and everyone read a note. We had everything in there from being thankful for family, friends, USAC, to cheap wine and good times! This was definitely the best part of Thanksgiving.

(What I'm Thankful for!)

(What I'm Thankful for!)

(USAC VITERBO 2011)

The party didn't end until 1am, and was definitely a success! I am so glad I got to spend Thanksgiving with my USAC family :)

Since Thanksgiving ended up being a success we decided that we will be throwing a Ugly Sweater/White Elephant Christmas Party! Stay tuned!