Mamma Mia! It's Thanksgiving!

After my classes on Wednesday, I took a bus and two trains to get to Agde…remember Agde? The beautiful beachside town I visited during my first week of Fall break? Well, Natalie, the American teaching assistant for that town invited some of the other English assistants to her apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving. We were five girls in all – 3 Americans, a Canadian, and a British girl! It wasn’t exactly traditional, but it was great nevertheless! 

Agde

I arrived Wednesday night, and Thursday was filled with hustling and bustling to go market shopping, chop veggies, and peel sweet potatoes. Lucky for us, Thursday morning hosts a large food market in Agde. We bought cheeses (one was bright green! but super yummy) and fresh fruit and veggies at the open market before Natalie’s afternoon class. While Natalie was teaching class, I was in charge of chopping veggies for the crepe filling. 

Natalie, the wonderful hostess!

Our dinner menu consisted of: crepes with a veggie & cheese filling, mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows, mashed potatoes, greek salad, stuffing, baguettes & French cheese, fruit salad, jello, chocolates, madelines, and – of course – wine.  I was in charge of the fruit salad, stuffing, and the chocolates.  I had bought loads of chocolate during my vacation, so I brought plenty of that – including Terry’s chocolate orange slices…with pop rocks in the chocolate! Originally, I was supposed to make cranberry sauce, but alas I could not find cranberries. So, with Natalie’s help, I decided to make a fruit salad instead. 

Amy’s Fruit Salad Recipe:

2 bananas

2 kiwis

a handful of grapes

1 apple

1 pear

1 lemon

mini marshmallows

Directions: Slice all fruit (except the lemon) into bite sized pieces, then squeeze the lemon juice onto the fruit, and add the marshmallows.

Making stuffing was just slightly more complicated. France doesn’t understand what stuffing is, so I improvised on the recipe! It wasn’t too difficult though, and turned out really yummy!

Amy’s Stuffing Recipe:

half a large loaf crispy French bread (not a baguette – the pain de campaigne)

approximately 1 cup vegetable broth

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped into small pieces

1 cup sliced celery

butter

olive oil

Directions: Tear the bread up into small pieces and place into oven to dry out. Heat the vegetable broth. Once the bread is toasted coat with broth until damp but not mushy. Sauté the garlic and onion in butter and olive oil, then add celery. Add to the bread mixture and mash together. Heat everything on the stovetop until hot.

The meal was a great success! We all ate until we were stuffed!  Before the meal, we went around the table and said something we are thankful for. This year, I have so many things to be thankful for: I am thankful to live in a free, democratic country; I am thankful to have wonderful friends who keep in touch even when I am far, far away; I am thankful to have a loving family who supports me through all my endeavors; I am thankful for my own good health along with that of my family and friends; I am thankful to be young and have the opportunity to travel. I am grateful to have so many things to be thankful for – sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

Thanksgiving in France

Friday we spent being lazy and eating way too many leftovers. I am ashamed to think of how much chocolate we consumed! Saturday was an interesting day filled with transportation issues. A group of us met in Montpellier to see Mamma Mia performed in French. We had to take a bus from the city center to the theatre. Two stops from where we were to get off, a bunch of gypsies tried to enter the bus. At first, the bus driver wouldn’t let them and threatened to call the police, but they managed to push their way on. The bus driver relented but yelled that they had to pay the fare. Once they were on, they were noisy, rude, and smelled horrible. Luckily, we only had 2 bus stops to go.

The play was good! It had been awhile since I’d been to the theatre, which I love. I’d never seen Mamma Mia (the play or the movie) before, so it was a bit difficult to follow in French, but I was able to grasp the storyline. It was really entertaining. After, however, we had another transport problem! The bus stop we were supposed to go to had a sign redirecting us to the next bus stop. There, we waited with a group of about 12 other (French) people. We waited for about an hour total. Some of the French people were getting angry and called the bus system, and finally they sent a bus for us. I’m not really sure what happened, but I’ve about had my limit with public transport! Thankfully, I was able to get back on my scheduled train to Mende on Sunday, even though when I bought my ticket the train agent told me that I would have to wait and see – there might be a strike. However, the strike ended Friday, so I did not have an additional transport problem!

The theatre - before Mamma Mia! began

All in all, I had a great time in Agde with the other assistants, and I am very excited that we are planning a Christmas lunch on December 15 – the last weekend before Christmas break. We are also doing Secret Santa! I can’t believe it’s less than a month until Christmas break! Friends and family – if you want a souvenir from France, now’s the time to tell me!

Did I mention I have the best parents in the world who sent me a care package just in time for Thanksgiving? Well, I do, and they did. Thanks Mom and Dad for the reeses, smarties, makeup bag, socks, and teacher stickers!

The best parents!