Thanksgiving in Bulgaria

This week, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Bulgaria! My (Jodie) co-worker, Dennis, an American living here with his Bulgarian wife and family, extended an invitation to the office, to come and celebrate Thanksgiving at their home, with all the traditional fixings.

Ellis and I joined a few others from work and arrived at Dennis and Petia’s home on Thursday evening. Also included were teachers from the school where Petia works. There were about 25 adults, and quite a number of kids who went off to play in a different room.

When we arrived, there was a large array of salads, cheeses, dips, pickled eggs, and cold cuts already on the table. I contributed a cabbage salad, which was a big hit. One of the women, who is married to a Bulgarian but was originally from Syria, brought home-made hummus and tabouli salad – which Ellis and I really enjoyed.

After we all helped ourselves to the different salads, the main course arrived – 2 roasted turkeys, with traditional bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and other vegetables. This wonderful meal was topped off with a New York-style cheese cake.

The one thing missing – I asked Dennis what happened to the football game on television – he said he still hasn’t figured out how to get that here.

Thanksgiving is really about spending time with family and friends, and doesn’t really have to be confined to the U.S. to be celebrated. We enjoyed spending a fun evening with new friends, and people that we didn’t know before, and wouldn’t have a chance to meet in other circumstances. Language and cultural barriers are overcome, and we all had a wonderful time and good food.

Thank you Dennis and Petia!

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