Happy Cuencsgiving!
Cuenca is a very expat-friendly community. Not just American expats, but mostly Americans for sure. (One of the main reasons folks move there is cheaper healthcare, so you can probably imagine how it’s become popular with Americans.)
Cuenca definitely still feels like Ecuador, which is great. It’s not overrun with tourists and gringos. (Yes, the expats are called “gringos” by the locals. It’s not a negative word, so even the gringos use it.) But there are a few traditions the Cuencans have adopted from the Americans. One of these is thanksgiving. That's not to say that everybody in Cuenca celebrates thanksgiving, but there are several restaurants and catering businesses that will provide Thanksgiving food to expats each November. The Gringo Post - a sort of Cuenca-specific craigslist - gave me several options to consider.
We opted to make reservations at Common Grounds, a place that feels very much like any sports bar in America. Because it is so popular on this holiday, they actually take reservations for a few days surrounding Thanksgiving. That made me laugh, just because it seems weird to adopt this day that matters only to Americans, but then to make it a multi-day event.
Anyway, it was great! We could have gone with one of the other options, to pick up a pre-made Thanksgiving meal, or even to order the necessary items to cook ourselves. But we saw this as yet another cultural experience, seeing all the gringos gathering in one place. Well, not all the gringos, but you know what I mean. Really, for being a relatively small place with a fairly big expat community, you don’t often see more than a couple of gringos at any one time.
They nailed the foods - turkey, veggies, sweet potatoes, stuffing (or dressing if you’re a Midwest weirdo), and mashed potatoes with gravy. What they didn’t nail was American-sized portions. We each got one plate filled with the yums, and when we finished it, we each got one piece of pumpkin pie. (Sad note: no whipped cream on the pumpkin pie.) As someone who doesn’t eat turkey, I had to barter a bit with the carnivores at the table. The lovely people who made this meal possible clearly haven’t sat around a big dining room table with family members who all had to unbutton their pants before going back for thirds.
Story showcasing her Thanksgiving meal.
Still, though, we were grateful for all of it. It was fun to watch and not care about American Football instead of watching and not caring about soccer for a while. And I’ll admit it was also a nice brain break to hear mostly English all around us for a couple of hours. We were happy to be a part of this coming-together-of-cultures. We even made it onto the Common Grounds Facebook page, which only happened to all of the other gringos who ate there as well. We’re basically famous now.
I stole this lovely family photo from the Common Grounds Facebook page.
I hope Cuenca continues to maintain its Cuenca-ness forever, but I’m also glad there are comforts from home available for those who need it sometimes.
