For Thanksgiving, sometimes I travel
to Killeen, Texas to spend time with the Puerto Rican side of my family.
A Puerto Rican Thanksgiving is very
entertaining and fast paced. When one
arrives to my uncle’s house, everyone rushes to greet you, they scream with joy
and kiss you and hug you. They all start
taking at the same time, so when we get together there are only two volumes;
loud and louder. Everyone is going from English to Spanish, back and forth, at
lightning speed, so it is a bit of a
juggling act to follow the conversation, and things can get a bit confusing. Not
only that, but the TV is always on, either showing football or a Spanish
“telenovela” for Grandma when she was around. Even the TV switches languages on you when you least
expect it.
For the meal, we have a mixture of
dishes from different cultures. There is the traditional turkey but also Puerto-Rican
style roasted pork, mashed potatoes and rice (arroz con gandules), a ton of sides and
even some Mexican dishes because my uncle is married to a Mexican lady that cooks
heavenly. So, for this type of meal you need a stomach for your stomach.
This kind of Thanksgiving is not for
the faint of heart or a weak stomach, but it is a ton of fun.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!