When brainstorming ideas for my blog post this past week, I thought I would write a post on the lessons in Moroccan culture and cooking our group would learn on our Moroccan Thanksgiving, which we celebrated this Sunday. However, our Moroccan Thanksgiving came and went and, to my surprise, bad food and cultural faux paus were not part of our celebration. The lessons we learned instead were ones of much greater value.
1-Reaping the Rewards of Hard Work:
For most of us, this was the first time we were in charge of Thanksgiving and the responsibility of producing a thanksgiving dinner for thirty people in a foreign country was quite intimidating to say the least. In Morocco, canned goods, instant stuffing, ready-to-go seasoning, shelled and chopped nuts and mixes for breads and cakes cannot be found. Ovens that are big enough to fit a whole turkey and have knobs that indicate the oven temperature and measuring cups were also few and far between. As a result, each and every person in our group not only had to be extremely creative to produce a Thanksgiving dinner, but we also had to put long hours into cooking and working together as a team. After a week of altering recipes, inviting guests, grocery shopping (which is MUCH easier said than done in Morocco) and cooking, we finally sat down to eat on Sunday. Lahamdullilah (Thanks be to God), every dish was delicious and some people even said our group's cooking was better than their Grandmas'. Of course, the atmosphere of great accomplishment made the meal tastier.
2- The REAL reason why we celebrate Thanksgiving:
Earlier in the month, as thanksgiving was approaching, everyone's concerns seemed to be centered around A) getting a turkey, B) pecan pie and C) how we were going to cook for thirty people. Up until Thanksgiving this year, few people had celebrated Thanksgiving away from their families and/or in a third world country. Although it was an obvious reality, it still shocked many of us into realizing the value of family and food. Due to our ability to work together extremely well, our group got a turkey, pecan pie and served thirty people ( and even had food left over). However, even after many hours of work and stuffing ourselves as everyone should on Thanksgiving, the "Holiday feeling" was not there. This was mainly because, just around the corner, there were women with babies tied to their backs begging for food, young men with knives fighting over one dirham and old men with disabilities that could easily be fixed, but their families did not have the time nor the money to care for them. You could say that the fact that we were so full we could barely walk, while these people were starving was kind of killing the holiday joy. That is when Nora Wienman, one of our most trusted go-to person for questions and advice about Morocco, suggested that we pack up the leftovers to bring to a charitable organization. We enthusiastically agreed and soon enough, around twenty heaping plates of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, salad, deviled eggs, homemade bread, pecan pie and pumpkin pie were sitting in the kitchen of a boarding house for thirteen to twenty three year olds who are living in Marrakesh to pursue a higher education than the one available to them in their small villages. Because the residents of the boarding house were our age, it was surprisingly easy to imagine their reality of living far from their families without being able to contact them and not having enough food to fill one's belly. I am truly thankful I have never had to go hungry or sacrifice my relationship with my family for my own well-being. Although this year's Thanksgiving was not traditional or entirely American, I have learned the importance of this holiday and the value of my family and not going hungry.
