I’m writing this from January 2025, but I want to take a look back at November. At this moment, I’ve crossed into my sixth month here (going on 7!), which officially marks my time here as over halfway complete. Looking out the window at my sixth-month summer, it’s surreal to think of my view changing. In November, I celebrated Thanksgiving here in the DR and it was a noteworthy experience that I’ll always remember.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I wanted to bring it to the DR in some way. I relayed the details of my family Thanksgiving to my curious roommates: the pick-up football played in the leafy yard, the smell of sage as the stuffing cooks, the taste of the cheese ball appetizer my Mimi always makes, watching football after eating at 4pm…there’s many small traditions to be expected at my family table. I wondered which ones I could bring to my new home.
My house mom mentioned that because an American family founded New Hope Girls, they actually do celebrate Thanksgiving! They have their own traditions to celebrate the American holiday Dominican-style and I was excited to experience that. They celebrate because it’s a fun holiday, but also for the cross-cultural exposure. Since I was living with them, Fina requested that I make 5 pies for the occasion––enough to feed almost 50 people. On a trip to another town, my boss, Joy, and I went to a grocery store called Jumbo. There, we got all kinds of produce and foreign goods (like canned pumpkin) to bake Thanksgiving desserts. I settled on making apple cobbler, apple crisp, and a pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. (The apple crisp ended up being the biggest hit!).
early stages of apple desserts
Thanksgiving festivities began around noon as my house mom, roommate M*, and I baked. M* helped me dice apples in the kitchen. To add to the celebration feel, M* played Christmas music—beginning with American music! She nodded her head at me, and it was a little homage that made me feel a little more of a home-away-from-home feeling. I think she was going for just that.
the backyard while we all gathered in the kitchen
The New Hope Girls driver, José Miguel, picked us up in the company van (fully loaded!), and we tried not to sit atop cobblers or crisps during the 5-minute drive to la casa grande. The event began as many of the birthday parties or other festivities do. We played in the yard and then gathered in the main room as Mamá Carmen led us in a few songs of thanks and gratitude. She prayed blessings over the girls, inviting others to join her. The girls were squeamish but content. When we finally moved on to the meal, we got to eat pollo, arroz con guisantes, ensalada verde con vinagre, papas, y pan––chicken, rice with peas, green salad with vinegar, potatoes, and bread. There were two new girls in the house for the celebration, and we were thankful to have them with us. Before we left, Fina and I were on the playset swinging. We just kept laughing!
Dominican-style Thanksgiving!
I was grateful to Facetime my mom and sisters that night, and I watched some iconic Thanksgiving TV episodes before I fell asleep. It was a good day!
