BARRINGTON -- Before she joined the Benaicha family for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, Moroccan college student Fatma Ghailan, 21, could only guess what the holiday was about.
"It's thanks-giving, you thank God for things," she said.
Her host mother, Susan Rivers, had told her there would be food and family.
"I'm expecting turkey," Ghailan said.
But as she watched Rivers, her husband Hedi Benaicha, and their sons Tarry, 15, and Robert, 25, prepare the meal -- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, butternut squash soup, and couscous, a North African dish -- she learned the holiday holds some surprises.
"I didn't know there would be couscous, but yeah, family are around, cooking and talking," said Ghailan, one of nine students enrolled at Roger Williams University through Partnership for Learning Undergraduate Studies, a State Department-run program for Arab and Muslim exchange students.
The couscous was prepared largely for Ghailan's benefit, said Benaicha, a history professor at Curry College in Milton, Mass., but adding a new dish is fitting for a holiday grounded in bringing people together.
"After all, the spirit is the blending," said Benaicha, who is from Tunisia.
Indeed, traditions were merged as much as the food at the Benaicha house last night.
Rivers, who met Benaicha when they lived in France, said hosting Ghailan during her time at Roger Williams has been mutually enjoyable. She's learned more about Moroccan history and culture, and her family provides Ghailan a connection to Rhode Island.
"We know what it's like to have local people take you in and serve as a guide to a new way of living," said Rivers, who is director of public affairs for the university.
Ghailan, a junior majoring in journalism, said she has appreciated their hospitality.
Traveling first to the University of North Alabama in March to take classes in English, Ghailan got her first glimpse of an America that differed from what she saw on TV and in movies.
Florence, Ala., was very removed from cities like New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and even Morocco's capital of Rabat, where Ghailan is from.
She made friends and immersed herself in American culture by taking weekend trips to Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville, and attending local church services.
"I just learned something about how people live and how they think," Ghailan said.
Since arriving at Roger Williams in August, Ghailan said Bristol, like Florence, has grown on her, and when she's not in class she goes to movies and restaurants with international and U.S. students.
"It's pretty cool, the people are fine," she said.
But she misses her older brother Samed, and her parents Khadir and Hayat, whom she hasn't seen since March. She talks to them every day through her telephone-calling cards, Hotmail messenger, and her Web cam, but it's not the same.
"I just miss being all the time around them," Ghailan said.
She'll see them Dec. 19, when she goes home for the holiday break.
In the meantime, she has her host family, with whom she connected through the university's study-abroad center. She first met the Benaicha's a month ago when she invited them to join her for a feast for Ramadan in the multicultural center.
Since then, Ghailan often visits Rivers' office on campus, and Rivers said she and Ghailan are planning a shopping trip.
Gathered around the couscous on the stove in the Benaicha's kitchen, Benaicha and Ghailan compared cooking techniques. Benaicha, who browned the grains in olive oil before adding boiling water, said his technique is faster than the traditional way, which involves steaming the couscous for more than an hour.
It's "feesa-feesa" couscous, he said. "Feesa" means "quick" in Arabic.
As the couscous took shape, Ghailan nodded in approval.
Putting the finishing touches on the dish, Benaicha spooned a tomato-based sauce with vegetables on top. With the exception of the potatoes in the sauce, Ghailan said it looks just like the kind her mother makes.
The dish has a special significance in the Muslim world, Ghailan said. After families gather in the mosque on Fridays for noon prayer, they traditionally return home and eat it together for lunch.
After taking the perfectly browned turkey out of the oven, mashing the potatoes, and putting the finishing touches on the pomegranate gravy, the family took their seats and prepared for the final part of their Thanksgiving tradition: giving thanks.
"I'm thankful for this great family, and having Fatma with us," said Benaicha.
Up next, Robert gave thanks to the delicious food they had prepared. Tarry said he appreciated his family, and having a home when so many others are less fortunate.
Rivers gave thanks to her husband and her children, adding, "I'm thankful for a new friend, Fatma."
It was Ghailan's turn. Smiling and looking around the overflowing table at her host family, she said even though she misses her family back home, she's thankful for them, and she's thankful to be in Bristol.
"I'm thankful for all the good in my life," she said. "I have too many good things, so I'm thankful. I'm lucky."
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