Thanksgiving dinner

I cooked my very first complete Thanksgiving dinner this year.  This was the first year I have been at a post that I wasn't invited to at least two different dinners. I miss the small, tight-knit communities of my posts in Ouagadougou and Bishkek. Here in Bucharest, people are more spread out and self-sufficient. At first I was a little sad and nervous about pulling off an entire meal, but since I love to cook it ended up being an amazing day. One that I will likely choose to do again with or without invites to others' turkey dinner.  Yes, I could have just skipped it, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I think it is important for Otto and I to keep up the tradition. Plus, it his only time of year for him to get turkey, dressing, cranberry, and pumpkin pie. I will admit, I didn't cook a whole turkey...fortunately here turkey is very accessible and you can buy breasts already cleaned and ready to go from the market.  I brined it overnight (because that is what google told me to do!) and wrapped it around the stuffing. I found some great recipes from different sources on the internet - I even made my own crispy, breaded onions for the green bean casserole. I tried a new brussel sprout recipe where you grate them and then flash cook them - yum. I also made broccoli for the boys since I am the only one that loves brussel sprouts.

Otto invited a couple of his good friends over for the meal. One of his friends, from Romania, had never has a Thanksgiving meal and his other friend hadn't had a proper American turkey dinner. It was nice to share a part of our culture with Otto's friends. I only took a couple of photos...to prove I had cooked.  The other very satisfying thing is that Otto loved the food - he asked if I could make a Thanksgiving dinner again, but before thanksgiving :)

Catch up. Summer tour in Bucharest

I hope to restart more regular post to the blog next year.  I just finished my last regular class for my doctorate. I have one independent study class next semester to finish up my project. I am so excited, no more 100 pages of reading/wk, no more weekly posts to the class discussion board, no more papers formatted using APA.  I feel like a new person. The only problem now is I am so used to being busy with school after the past 2+ years, not sure what to do with myself :)

Over the next couple of months I will try to catch everything up. Since the summer, I have traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan, Sofia, Bulgaria, Brasov in Romania, Lugano, Switzerland, and a quick trip to Germany. In a couple of days Otto and I go to Amsterdam for a few days. Yes, I lead a hard life!

First off though I wanted to share some more photos of Bucharest. This summer, after living here for a year, I finally did the free walking tour with a colleague at the Embassy that had recently arrived. I highly recommend it. I did a similar tour in Sofia that was great. It is usually run by college students who are practicing their English. Although I have been to all the places we went to on the tour, it was very interesting to hear the history.  One interesting fact is that Michael Jackson is loved here.  He came here for the first major concert by a US star in the early 90's after the fall of Ceausescu (communist leader in Romania 1967-89).  The funny side note from the tour is that many people came from all over the world to see the concert and purchased tickets for Budapest, not Bucharest. So, when they went to see the concert, they got a big surprise!

Here are some photos from the old town area (Lipscani) which is a great pedestrian walking area with lots of shops, restaurants, and old buildings.  Also a photo of a modern statue in front of the music hall.

Check back again for more...