I have come to really cherish American traditions. Here in Cambrai, the people, well, they aren't very open-minded. It's as if they are in a little French bubble; any influence from a foreign culture might just pop that bubble, and then how would they survive?! They often tell Rusty and I to speak French because we are in France, and do they care to hear about any American traditions? Absolutely not! This French-focused attitude made it hard to get really excited for Thanksgiving. But, the show must go on and Rusty and I are not the type to let a Thanksgiving pass without feasting on the usual foods, so we invited teammates, friends, and the American missionaries from our ward over for a Thanksgiving lunch.
Unfortunately, after searching high and low for a whole turkey, we came up empty handed. So we ate turkey breast, and stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and crepes- an addition from Rusty's teammate and his fiance who are also our neighbors! The pumpkin cake was compliments of Kirsten again this year, since she is nice enough to fulfill our canned pumpkin and chocolate chip requests whenever she comes to visit!
Of course the narrow-minded French description is a generalization. We have met some really great people here who have gone out of their way to help us. They have become great friends of ours and we feel lucky to have them in our lives.
The holidays just always make me miss home. Although it would be nice to be with our family, I am grateful to have these experiences. Getting to explain Thanksgiving multiple times (whether people really care to hear it or not lol) is like a constant reminder of how grateful I am for my family, Rusty, our traditions, America...and everything else I have been blessed with. And, I am so happy we have been able provide so many people with their first Thanksgiving!
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