Friday, December 6, 2013

Sochi Expat Thanksgiving 2013...Oh Russia! TGIF!

Holidays are always a hard time of year when you live abroad, away from your family (friends at home fall in to the family category in our book). But we are going to make the most of our holiday season and do as much as possible to enjoy the winter in Sochi. There is still a lot to explore around here so we better get on it! As of today, it is 62 days until Opening Ceremonies. It's getting SO close!

We celebrated our 2nd Thanksgiving in Sochi this year. There are a lot more expats in Sochi now that we are so close to the Games. This year, we were invited to an Expat Thanksgiving with some of our new American friends. There weren't just Americans in attendance; there were also friends from Canada, Germany, Vietnam, Italy (well, she was there in spirit), Russia and Australia. They had even downloaded the Thanksgiving football game to watch while we ate our turkey. Along with two turkeys, we also had all of the fixins - mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies, stuffing, pasta (an Italian contribution), green bean casserole (I found a fantastic gluten free, homemade recipe here), and tons of desserts. It was so great to spend time with a bunch of expats. Some are already great friends and some are new, soon-to-be good friends. With the company, football game, and turkey it was hard to remember that we are in Russia. 

The gang.

The spread.

Harb.

Mark, Jerry, Mike.

Let the holiday season begin!!