Thanksgiving is a holiday that is mostly celebrated in North America. Usually back home in the U.S. I spend time with either family or friends. It is one of my favorite festivities after Ramadhan and Eid.

Why do I love it! Mainly because of the scrumptious amount of meals served. It is the only time of the year where I get to enjoy turkey.

Thanksgiving is a day to show gratitude for what you have and what God has endowed upon you. I appreciate this day as it brings the kindness out of everyone (neighbors, friends and families), however as Muslims we are taught to give thanks to God every seconds of our lives. I try my best to say my Athkar, Alhamdullilahs for every situation I come across good or bad.

On Saturday, the 28th of November I spent my thanksgiving out of the U.S. Prior to coming I didn’t have any expectation of celebrating mainly because it is not a Spanish festivity. A couple of weeks before this day, the fellow American friends, I made here in Spain decided that we organize something for this day. I took this opportunity to invite my Spanish friends to experience this American holiday. They were very excited as this was their first time celebrating an American holiday with Americans.

The 28th of November was a special day for all of us. On this day we discovered our hidden cooking potentials. During times of festivities either our Mums or Grand mums took care of the food preparation and we were mostly by their sides as cooking assistants. Without our families with most of us, we had to prepare dishes we had never done before. I seasoned, stuffed and grilled a whole bird in the oven. It surprisingly didn’t burn and tasted great.

The 28th of November was a special day for all of us because each person contributed a special food from their country of origin. We had the opportunity of learning about each other. We were girls from different religious or non religious practices, ethnic backgrounds, languages ( My friends spoke Spanish and we spoke English). Despite our differences we were able to sit together, try to understand one another and laugh together. It was a really Special day for all of us

Alhamdulillah (Thank God)  for that moment, the people God places in my life and most importantly my family.