Thanksgiving in the 'burbs

Another of my favorite yankee holidays just passed: Thanksgiving! And this year instead of spending it in the kitchen, we got to spend it in the suburbs of Philadelphia, in Holland Acres to be precise, eating a Moldovan/Russian interpretation of the wonderful Thanksgiving feast that leaves me salivating for the whole of November!

Our friend A invited J and I to spend this important holiday with his family and we took up the opportunity right away! And since J had never been to Philadelphia, it was like hitting two birds with one stone ;) We were warmly welcomed by A's family, the entire family! We were 20 at the dinner table with 4 generations present from grandparents to grandchildren and lots of cognac for the numerous merry toasts. The turkeys (yes, plural!) were nice and juicy and the sides (most Moldovan/Russian) were delicious and don't even get me started on the desserts! I came out with a couple of new recipes to try ;)

Thanksgiving is considered to be the most important holiday in the US as every family, regardless of their religious inclinations, travels cross country to give thanks with their family. It is the holiday where airplane, road and rail traffic is at its peak. We thought we would escape the madness by travelling on the day, Thursday, as most people travel the day before, but Penn Station was ridiculously crowded and we had to cram on the train desperately looking for seats! Luckily, the ticket collectors tend to be rather nice and forgiving on this holiday, making us pay a little bit less than if we'd bought our tickets before getting on board - it's usually the reverse!

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks for the things that you have, and even though I don't agree with the whole 'let's sit down with the Indians and then kill them after' history of the holiday, I think it's a great holiday nonetheless, and one of the very few where presents aren't involved! Most of the shopping around this holiday revolves around food and I can't argue with that. If only Black Friday didn't mar the whole idea - honestly, why spend Thursday giving thanks only to spend Friday shouting and fighting for super deals, Christmas shopping is supposed to be fun, people!

For J it was his 2nd Thanksgiving, for me it's now been quite a few since my mom decided to export this tradition when we left and we've celebrated it since (it's great food, why not!). It was, however, my first time celebrating it with people that moved to the US to make their lives better and it was a very humbling experience. A's family immigrated to the US when he was 8 and after becoming naturalized they were able to sponsor the rest of their family so that they too could come safely to the US. They have since prospered and grown as a family here in the US. As the toasts kept pouring in for the evening, everyone was thankful for this country and for the life and safety that it has provided them, it was hard not to be teary-eyed, maybe I'm just too emotional these days!

But at a time when the US keeps getting bad press and its popularity keeps going down in the rest of the world it's definitely something new and refreshing to hear all this thankfulness but I guess that's what the US gave to hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees, a possibility to attain the American Dream and for lots of families, moving here did mean the difference between life or death. So, I'm thankful for the things I have, for the people in my life, for my parents and the opportunities that they've provided for me and I guess to the US at the moment for being my temporary home (if only it wasn't so bloody expensive!).

And to A's family for welcoming and taking us in this year and for their delicious Thanksgiving feast!

This city is resilient!

Happy Halloween everyone!

You wouldn't think that there would be much to celebrate after the havoc and devastation that was caused by Hurricane Sandy but New Yorkers are resilient and this city will survive.

Kids are out and about going from apartment building to apartment building collecting their candy in their costumes that they have been eagerly waiting to wear, crossing their fingers that Sandy doesn't stop them…and stop them she did not - I've already had a ninja turtle, a wolverine and a Minnie Mouse at my door :)

Over the last three days, this city has seen its worst. The MTA system was shut down due to major flooding and the damage is overwhelming, to the extent it has never experienced in its 108 years of existence but the buses are up and running (they are even providing FREE service to some customers depending on areas) and the MTA employees are doing everything in their power to restore the subways to their everyday glory.

Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, which has never been closed for more than two days since 1888 (!!) is back on track to buying and selling of shares and bonds and what not - wreaking its own havoc on the economy in its own special way ;)

Downtown Manhattan and most parts of New Jersey are still without power and ConEd customers have been told it will probably be quite a few days (if not weeks) until the power is back but they’re flying over employees from all over the country to add to the manpower to guarantee that service is restored. 

The waters have finally receded leaving the damage visible and the insurance companies crying for lost revenue. The news have estimated the cost of damage in the billions. 

Other parts of New York and New Jersey were unfortunately damaged beyond repair. Governor Chris Christie has lamented over the loss of the historical Jersey Coast and the Atlantic City pier. There are thousands of homes along the coast that have been damaged beyond repair bot to mention the roller coaster rides on jersey Shore! Breezy Point in Queens seems saw its worst, with fires ravaging around 80 homes and Rockaway in Brooklyn also bore the brunt of the storm when its historic boardwalk was stripped clear off! Trees have knocked out power lines, cars and houses and the death toll for the US is currently at 90 with rescue workers still trying to evacuate people to safety.

Looking back we were very lucky. North Williamsburg suffered minimal damage compared to other parts. Walking around yesterday all we saw was tree debris, mostly leaves and branches, and the worst was a park bench that caved under next to the East River, that was about it…

We never lost power, water or internet. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for some of my friends in the other boroughs. Some have been without power now for two days, some even without running water! People have been gathering at points to recharge their cellphones and the shelters are full with people who have been left homeless!

I was actually very happy that I decided not to evacuate, in the end it wasn't necessary as the flooding was so minimal here it didn't affect any of the buildings on Williamsburg ‘coast’. We did, however, get to see the explosion from the ConEd building, bright flashes of green and white, scary! 

The bridges are now open and people are venturing out across the ‘pond’. Most are actually coming our way to get supplies as a lot of stores in downtown Manhattan are still closed due to damage. People have also started going back to work. I’ll be trying the bridge tomorrow to see for myself how Manhattan is faring. I know I will be pleasantly surprised, this city is resilient that way.

check out this website for photos of the devastation caused by Sandy...
http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-hurricane-sandy-photos-20121028/