Cordelia Highland/Staff Writer

Lying out on my host mom’s patio, enjoying the afternoon sun, it’s hard to remember that back in the States the weather is getting seriously nippy, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. A time to celebrate family and all the things for which we are thankful, Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, and, for many people, their favorite time of year.

A lot of Americans here in Argentina have admitted that not being home for Thanksgiving will probably be the hardest part of this study abroad experience. Julia Black, Katya Botwinick, and I (all ’13) have decided that we must celebrate Thanksgiving this year; and, since we won’t be at home, we’re just going to have to make our own Thanksgiving dinner—Buenos Aires syle!

Away from our American families, we have assembled our own makeshift family: Wes kids, some other study abroad friends, Colombian neighbors, Julia’s incredible host mom, Maru, and her posse of rowdy 30-something sociologists. Since this will be the first Thanksgiving for many of our guests, I’m already getting excited about telling the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving in Spanish!

We will celebrate outside—a sunset potluck on Julia’s host mom’s rooftop terrace, and I’m willing to bet that it’ll be in the eighties well into the night. Translating traditional Thanksgiving food into a summertime potluck is certainly going to be a challenge, especially given the differences between American and Argentinian supermarkets. I learned this the hard way trying to make cheesecake with “queso crema,” which, despite the name, is nothing like Philadelphia cream cheese.

But this brings us to the real question at hand—in a turkey-less country, how are we going to do Thanksgiving food the right way?

With a whole lot of substitution, apparently.

We have been assured that although there are no turkeys to be found, “pavito” is basically the same thing. I’m slightly suspicious, since no one seems able to tell me the English name, and when I ran a Google search of “pavito,” all I got were pictures of ladies’ bottoms and a few peacocks.

“Pavo” yielded more peacocks, less hiney. According to Spanishdict.com, the English translation is “pea-chick,” which sounds more like the main ingredient of hummus than a turkey.

Argentine guests have told us they’ll be bringing ice cream and guacamole, so Julia and I are taking charge of the cooking effort and making sure that there will still be pumpkin pie, stuffing, and, as per American tradition, at least one dish involving sweet potatoes and marshmallows.