Thanksgiving/The Black Out

Who knew that Thanksgiving was the fourth Thursday in November and not the third? We certainly didn't. My roommates and I planned to cook a grand Thanksgiving feast and then have our TEFL classmates over for drinks afterwards. This idea did not go over too well with everyone else because they did not want to miss out on turkey and stuffing. So, we decided to invite everyone for a potluck style dinner. Unfortunately, two days before Thanksgiving, someone pointed out that we were a week early and that Thanksgiving was in fact next week.

The morning of the real Thanksgiving, Lisa and I ventured off in search of a turkey. We had to go to this supersized grocery store called JUMBO to find one. We bought the biggest turkey they had, which was still the smallest one that I had ever seen. It cost 70 pesos ($20), but it was worth it. We desperately searched for cranberries in any form, but apparently they don't exist in Latin America.
We googled "How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey" and used the resulting webpages as a guide for the day. Since our turkey was frozen and there wasn't enough time for it to thaw in the fridge or cold water, we had to microwave it. After about 40 minutes, the microwave shut off. The lights did too.
We went out on the balcony to contemplate if Thanksgiving could still happen without electricity. The air was filled with nervous energy and panic. We could hear protesters banging pots and pans on the next block. They had been without electricity for 72 hours.
We tried to call off our party, but our friends had already prepared their dishes and were too excited to give up their Thanksgiving. All of the stores within walking distance were out of candles, but we had one flashlight. We had to lead each guest up five floors through a dark stairwell to our apartment. Once we got all of the food together, we decided to eat outside on the patio by the pool. The turkey turned out perfectly, even without electricity or a meat thermometer! We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, and probably 3 or 4 different pies. It was a grand feast! Our Argentine friends were so intrigued by all of the food, especially the Salad. I caught a picture of them inspecting the spinach salad. They thought that it was so strange that we ate raw spinach!
I have been so jealous of of how distinctive Argentine culture is, and it has often made me sad that the U.S. seems to lack any sort of unifying culture. Well, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for Thanksgiving. Americans have traditions too!