my first thanks giving meal

had heard about thanks giving so many times, had seen the meals on the movies but never attended one till today. (thank you BC for inviting me) experiencing it in a % 90 muslim West African city with American's was another thing, actually the main thing...

we, Turkish people say that we take our culture to everywhere we go. today i doubted... i kind of felt weird when i first entered the house, except me everybody was there on a purpose, to celebrate the Thanks giving, to carry on the tradition that they had seen from their parents. as i learned today, starting point of thanks giving was (as America had so many immigrants in the old days) to gather family and different people (cultures) and share all there is, remember the family values ( or maybe in a way, feel the connection through). while eating the turkey cooked by David, sweet potatoes by BC, pumpkin pie by Curt, i thought that maybe they are remembering or celebrating their traditions more than we do...

having Nate (hey Nate, you are on my blog :) ) and Donn with me was kind of relieving, at least talking to them kind of made me feel like i was from the family. actually in 20-30 people who was over there, probably they were the only two, not counting the married couples, who had known eachother for a long time, so the day was serving truly as a gathering...

thinking about carrying on traditions and comparing us with them was interesting... as our traditions goes far back than America and as we believe that we carry on with them whereever we are, is a simple illusion. today what i realised is, instead of traditions we are mostly trying to take our daily lives with us and live through it. when it comes to religious or etc. holidays we act accordingly, but do we live and feel as they were? today the American's at the house i was invited, was living the day as much as they can with the conditions in hand in the traditional way, which i truly enjoyed...