Peter Caty/ The Mirror

This Thanksgiving break, my family and I did what most people would consider the “untraditional” thing to do. We surpassed the family dinner and flew to North Carolina to be with a good family friend and take part in a Latino culture Thanksgiving without being Latino or related to any Latinos.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was not sit down, nor was it similar to any holiday dinner I have had yet. Instead of turkey roasting in the oven with stuffing, we stood around outside watching a pig roast on a spigot, with 50 strangers and a turkey somewhere in the background being deep-fried.

There were no mashed potatoes; it was substituted for rice and beans. We had no cranberry sauce or gravy, instead we ate potato salad with peas and different olives; no crab cakes were passed around, instead there were different salsas to try. No holiday music was playing; everyone, including my family and I, took part in traditional Latino dancing.

There was one fundamental similarity between my Thanksgivings of the past and this one though, a TV on mute in the background playing a football game. Now while I was originally a little upset by this change of pace I began thinking about how we really were being “ultra-American” by being this diverse.

So while you were having your third helping of Nonna’s pumpkin pie, I was learning how to properly Tango. We were in different ways fulfilling our American duties. We welcomed our friends and family and saw past all of our differences; we came together and shared a holiday.

I may not be able to repeat even eight names of the people that we ate with, but I can list eight things that I did that without this trip I wouldn’t have even considered. I do realize that we missed out on seeing our extended family, but we survived as did they and we’ll all be together for Christmas next month anyway.

So while I took part in my “untraditional” Thanksgiving, I was thankful for the opportunity to do so. I was thankful that my friends of a different culture opened up their arms and homes to my family and me and allowed us to share their holiday traditions with them. Never had I felt more American than I did leaving that home.