How We Brought Our Thanksgiving Traditions to Portugal
My mom’s legacy for our Portuguese community
My mom since I was a kid liked keeping or bringing some very American traditions into our Portuguese lifestyle in Portugal. Some of these traditions were very much non-existent in Portugal, let alone in our very small town.
On Easter, my mom would set in our common garden a hidden egg hunt, and decorate de easter eggs in the kitchen with messy paint and glitter (every little girl's dream!). Halloween was a second excuse out of the year to dress up even though I was the only one and trick or treat was not really my thing so I was okay with skipping that part. Thanksgiving was the time to eat the turkey, the stuffing, the cranberry sauce, and pecan pie and be thankful for what the past year had given us and for having friends and family around us who cared for us.
Portugal doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving at all but that didn’t stop us from celebrating it and better yet, inviting Portuguese friends to the house to introduce them to the holiday. Where my parents live there have always been many immigrants from the UK and the US and they did have some American friends that would join us in this day which made it even more authentic and meaningful to me as a kid.
