a gringo thanksgiving

I wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving in my new home. Last year, undecided, I had dinner in a restaurant with a couple of other travellers, and some dried cranberries. I was pretty clear I didn't want to do that again, but I didn't have any invitations. So I decided, hey, I have a house, I can have something here!, and started inviting people. Then Ed and Lidia invited me. At that time, I only had three confirmed people, so I asked if I could bring them. Yes. Then I check back, and the list of confirmed had grown to about 14. Oops. Don't know if I can bring THAT many, and one person has a schedule conflict, she has to work in the morning. ED & Lidia's was to start at 11:00. I had timed out mine for the afternoon. We had a great time, and had everything. I made sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, tofu turkey (kindof like a funny shaped stuffing) cranberry chutney and apple pie. People brought the real turkey, salad, a pumpkin pie, ice cream, whipped cream, fruit jello mold, stuffing, stuffed platanos, gravy and things to drink. Everything was delicious, and we all had a good time. I forgot to take photos, but the biggest blessing was my friend Rosario, who stayed to help clean up - this was great, because I needed to pack because I would be leaving early the next morning for Panama.