Love Goes: Thanksgiving Serbian Style

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving in our new home. Before I get to the details of that glorious day (and meal) and observation. Thanksgiving is not celebrated around the world - amazing it is only an American holiday. Now I knew that, but was still shocked Thursday morning when I went for a quick jog and Belgrade was still business as usual, anyway back to Thanksgiving. Our original plan for the holiday was to celebrate with our friends in Novi Sad. Check here http://lovegrowslovegoes.blogspot.com/2010/11/crazy-weekend.html as to why that plan changed. So we celebrated here in Belgrade with the Isreal Family. Because Randi was out of commission Jen made most of the lunch. She worked hard and prepared a great meal. Lets start with the Turkey, can you get on here? Yes you can! Many folks had said we would not find turkey in Serbia without a special request. But living in Belgrade they are fairly available around the holidays. On Monday Jen checked at two stores both assured us they would have Turkey. The Super Idea would have them available on Thursday after 2:00 and Mercator would have them Friday after 9:00. (Another clue that thanksgiving is only celebrated in the U.S.) On Wednesday I went to try one last store (Rodić) and was told after three on Wednesday I could get turkey. So I went back to the store looking for whole turkeys. Oops! Rodič had turkey, but it was already cut up into breast fillets, wings, thighs, legs etc, so I bought two huge breasts and 4 legs. With the turkey in hand and Jen having acquired sweet potatoes earlier in the week we were in business for Thanksgiving dinner. Jen did a great job of preparing our favorites as well as some things the Isreals considered essential. The meal was great but celebrating with the Isreal's was terrific. On Wednesday night we ordered pizza, while the women cooked and Randi taught the kids about the first thanksgiving. Thursday was food, and more food. Great fellowship. Both us and the Isreals Skyped with family back home. We finished the night watching the Cowboys over the Internet. We finished the weekend by decorating our tree for Christmas. It was fun talking about the different ornaments and when we got them and why they were significant. Over all it was a great day, different but great. Here are some pics of the festivities.