Holidays abroad can be tricky. Realizing that you are 7,000 miles away from your family, friends and pumpkin pie… well it’s kind of a bummer. But nothing chases away the I-miss-my-homeland blues like a good ol’ expat Thanksgiving dinner.

My lovely hosts (and fellow Americanos) Lindsey and John, prepared an authentic Día del Gracias dinner for 16 people. Not an easy task, especially when half the ingredients you need don’t exist in Argentina. Minor setback. Not to be deterred by geography, John went above and beyond the call of duty to import cranberries, pumpkin pie ingredients and marshmallows for the yams (my favorite dish) during a recent trip stateside.

For the vast majority of the guests it was their first Thanksgiving dinner. A mix of Argentines, Frenchies, Colombians and a pair of South Africans, it was fun to hear them ask with genuine curiosity/disgust, “So you put the stuffing in the turkey and then you eat it?” followed by “So this is what you really eat?” and “Where do you put the gravy?”

Usually on Turkey Day, I am grateful for warm stuffing and oh-so-filling turkey meat. But with the Buenos Aires’s spring serving up 30 degree Celsius days with 50% humidity, there was a lot more sweating than eating. Gross. Still, I was extremely grateful to have a little slice of home placed on my plate.