Student Experience

Here’s How Local Families Make Thanksgiving an International Affair

When you’re a stranger in a strange land, a roasted turkey and all the trimmings with acquaintances can be as good as the holidays with old friends.

“In Brazil, the closest thing to a holiday like Thanksgiving that we have is Christmas,” said Mônica Rodrigues, a research scientist in the Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “For us, Christmas is a more intimate time when we try to be with family, we have dinner, lots of delicious food, exchange gifts and make prayers.

Helga Hiss, center, and guests Mônica Rodrigues, left, and Victor Ariel Leal Sobral

Bringing people and cultures together in a celebration of thanks is the goal behind the UVA Lorna Sundberg International Center’s Thanksgiving Meal Match. (Contributed photo)

“I couldn’t imagine another holiday where we could have the same feelings that I always had with my family during Christmas,” she said.

But she found those feelings at the home of Helga Hiss and her husband, Duncan Pickett, as part of the UVA Lorna Sundberg International Center’s Thanksgiving Meal Match.

“We shared a joyful day,” Hiss said. “Our favorite memory is how the decibels and intensity of the conversation rose when we were in the kitchen, and our guests spoke Portuguese. We appreciate the warmth and cheerfulness our guests brought to us.”

The center’s Thanksgiving Meal Match places the University’s international students with local families for Thanksgiving meals and celebrations. Since 1983, it has provided students an opportunity to experience the traditional U.S. holiday and encourage cultural exchange between local families and students.

“This is the program’s second year back since COVID-19, and we’ve been pleased to see the program’s reach as the word gets out,” Grace Medrano, the center’s international student and scholar program coordinator, said.

Since 1983, the Thanksgiving Meal Match has provided students an opportunity to experience the traditional U.S. holiday and encourage cultural exchange between local families and students. (Contributed photo)

Medrano said 18 families have signed up this Thanksgiving to host, and 40 students have applied for a meal match.

“We are very grateful for our hosts for their kindness and hospitality,” Medrano said. “The impact that they have on our international students and scholars is invaluable. It can mean so much to have someone warmly welcome you into their home, especially when you’re far from home yourself.”

The Hiss family will host again this year. Last year, they hosted seven Brazilians for Thanksgiving, including two families, Rodrigues and a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Victor Ariel Leal Sobral.

Also from Brazil, Sobral was working toward his doctorate last fall when Rodrigues approached him about signing up for the Thanksgiving Meal Match.

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“As the end of the year approaches and the days become shorter, I think everyone starts feeling homesick and longing to spend time with their loved ones,” Sobral said. “It is especially hard for some of us who are far from home and can’t make it back for the holidays.”

Sobral said the holiday meal was delicious and the company excellent.

“This Thanksgiving activity is a wonderful opportunity to gather and feel a bit of the home feeling that we miss,” he said.

“The energy that surrounded Thanksgiving seemed as magical to me as Christmas, and that really did me a lot of good,” Rodrigues said. “Since I live here without any close family and loneliness often accompanies us, this was a unique moment in which I felt welcomed and part of a family.”