Too early, you say? So we thought, but actually things start turning red and green with touches of silver and gold, right after Dia de Muerte. Since the people do not have a day of Thanksgiving here, Christmas is the next big thing. Decorations are everywhere, and each day more go up. They have lots of nativities, and shrines to the virgin of Guadalupe. They also have little stands in the mall where you can buy religious art, from pictures of the Savior, the last supper, angels, and other religious figures, with whom I am not familiar, to Santa’s elves, and reindeer, snowmen, and other traditional Christmas themes. Then there is the “real” Santa with reindeer (anywhere from four to eight) usually six, and of course snowmen and winter scenes with snow. Most of the people here don’t even know or can’t even imagine what snow or cold is. Nevertheless, the stores are completely stocked with down coats, sweaters, ski caps, gloves, scarves, and snow boots. As we walk down the street in our short sleeved clothing people stop, and ask, “No tiene frio?” We just smile and say, “Somos de Utah.”
We found out the other day that the celebration begins on the second of December, Feliz cumplianos de la virgen de Guadalupe, and runs consecutively all the way through to the sixth of January which is the day the three wise men come bearing gifts. Every day from start to finish there are piñata parties. On the 25th, the children receive a few small gifts from Santa, but on the sixth of January, there is the grand outpouring of gifts coming from the three Wise men. In between they have the “Fin del ano” celebration, for the adults, or those who think they are.
Then of course there are the cannons. The Mexican people cannot celebrate anything without shooting off cannons. The Christmas salvos began about a week ago, and we hear a dozen or so shots every day, spaced out from about 5:30 am to 10:00 pm.
All the big stores and malls we go into are totally geared up for Christmas. The big thing is nativity sets; they are everywhere. They range in size from life size to tiny little miniatures that fit in a teacup sized globe. They range in price from a few pesos, to thousands of pesos.
The food displays and holiday offerings are varied as well. The traditional favorite is Pozole. This is a large kernelled, very tough maize that you cook for hours and by itself is quite boring and tasteless. But when it is embellished with chicken, lettuce, avocado, sliced radishes, onions, cheese, cheecharon (deep fried pig skin) chili sauces of various colors, and degrees of picante, it is really quite tasty, and filling. It is served in a bowl of broth, with all the fixings in bowls on the table, and people just doctor it up to suit their individual taste. To add a special flair to this they also serve crispy tostada shells with crema (sour cream without the sour, Mmmm) and grated cheese. You eat these along with your Pozole, or you can just throw it in with the rest of the stuff and eat it all together.
The first time Mom and I saw Pozole in the store it looked pretty good. We thought it was just another kind of corn. So we bought some, and mom cooked it as a side dish for about ten minutes, Yuck! It was awful and we just threw it out and vowed never to buy it again. Then we got invited to eat at a member’s house, and they served Pozole. Wow! What a difference. This stuff is really very good. Of course it is not so much the Pozole that is good, it’s all the stuff you add to it. Kind of like mashed potatoes or steamed rice, not too tasty by itself but with gravy or other stuff, Yummmy! We don’t see a lot of turkey in the stores, and the ones we see are very expensive, anywhere from $320 pesos to $650 pesos. There are a lot of fancy rolled roasts with rich stuffing of chipotle, jalapeño, cheese, various types of chilies, herbs and spices, garnished with pineapple, cherries, mangos and other fruits or vegetables. Since the 24th falls on a Monday, and we usually have a zone meeting on Monday, we’re thinking about bringing something very special for the elders to eat, but we’re not sure what the actual plans are, so we’ll have to wait and see. Maybe we will just make a big pot of Pozole, and take all the trimmings. The neat thing for us to realize is that all over the world people celebrate our Lord and King, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. And they remember Him buy showing forth a greater amount of love for their families, and neighbors. Let us all as a family draw closer together in peace and love, and let that love reach out and touch all those we work, play, and associate with in our daily lives. May the joy of the Christmas season permeate our very souls no matter where we are, and let our hearts be united through the power of the Holy Ghost, let us be one in the spirit of love
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4 comments:
Great Post. It was very interesting to read about how different things are there. I wouldnt have though Christmas would be so different on the same continent. It will be interesting to go to your house for dinner once you return from Mexico. It will be very fun. Corinne would love to have someone take her donw the ethnic isle at the store and show here what some of those things are all about, and some of it sounds delicious. Do you think your tastes have changed at all. I know at the turkey plant a lot the Mexicans would eat cooked corn on the cob that they brought for lunch and it would cold and they would put chili powder on it and eat it cold.
Well we dropped of Andrew and that was super hard. Harder than being deployed someplace. I cryed like a baby. It was of course a wonderful if bitter sweet experience. He is so ready you could see it. He only cryed twice. Once when he said goodbye to gladys and once when we finally walked away from him at the MTC. Corinne and I cryed quite a bit. I have to go for now but I will include more in a bit. Cordell
Andrew teared up a bit when we had to seperate in the MTC but other than that he was quite stoic. I think he really wanted to get started with his mission. When he had to give final hugs and goodbyes at the final chaple meeting it was touched but up until then he was simply resolved and excited to get started. On the drive home for us it was weird. I miss that kid already and on occasion would tear up as would Corinne. Then when we arrived at our house it was 1100 at night and dark and as I pulled in I could see the light in his bedroom and for just the quickest of moments I thought to myself, as I did for years, "Good Andrews Home" then it hit me like the crash of a wave that no he's not home and he wont be home for 2 years and it hit me super hard. Im going to miss him. I think Sean is having a pretty hard time right now. He has never been the most open with Corinne and I. He usually talks with Andrew over things and not so much with Corinne and I and he is a lost little boy right now, and we are concerned. We did receive a letter from Andrew this weekend. He is doing well. IT was form his first day and he told us about finding his room and his companion. Corinne read the letter out loud and she cryed when Andrew explained that for dinner they had Roast Beef, mashed potatos and green beans. He said his companion is really quiet and a diabetic who has to take shots with his meals, and a very nice guy. He also said all of the Missionarys on his floor came to visit all of the newbees and tackled them all in their rooms and he clearly felt welcome there. I look forward to hearing from his again.
Our tastes have changed. We eat more fresh vegetables, of course the tortillas are wonderful. Chicharron is something we thought we would NEVER try...but...mmmmmgood. Chacharros are also great, better than corn chips. We haven´t tried the corn with chili yet, but it is a very popular food. Mexicans put chili on everything...especially fruits, and they put out samples all over the stores. Something else that is really different is the candied squash...dad says ok but I really don´t like the texture.
The tamales are disappointing so we will be trying to produce the ¨perfect¨ one before we get home. The biggest surprise so far is the success of Dad´s Chihuahua´s and secret sauce. The Mexicans actually prefer our style of Mexican cooking! But in Mexico everything can use a little more ¨pica¨.
Thanks for sharing your Andrew day. We were expecting exactly what you reported. We will never forget the ride home after taking you and Corinne to the airport. But...it was the right thing to do.
Much love to all.
dadandmom
inceWeve gotten a total of three letters from Andrew from the MTC. He is having the time of his life as far as I can tell. Its a great day when we get mail from him but its going to be a long two years without talking to him. I miss him. Corinne is doing well but she misses him a lot. She is the perfect mother and she is running out of kids to feed and nurture and Its hard for her. Every time she reads one of Andrews letters she tears us at the parts where he talks about the food that he gets at the MTC, and he never fails to tell us that he is eating well and how much he loves it.
Today the 9th and he leaves for the field on the 17th weather permitting. Im excited to hear from his experiences once he starts really working. Hes a good boy and will do well.
I loved hearing about the way your tastes have changed. Thats interesting. Chili on fruit? That sounds so odd. But Im excited to go over to your house for dinner once you get home. You've got less than a year and a half to go. Time flys.
Sean seems to be doing well enough. He misses his brother and its hard for him because he holds things in, but he clearly misses his brother.
Corinne is doing well at her work. They love her and Corinne is starting to warm to the idea that maybe she can hack it. She is awesome but she cant see that herself sometimes. Its a really big job but she is getting to where she feel more confident.
My work is changing a lot. WAMU is trimming the amount and type of loans that they do and that along with the housing market shrinking is making it kind of rough.
Im sure you must have heard that Ruth and Don closed on their house, They are really happy about that and so are we. We went over to there house to decorate gingerbread houses and had a great time. It wonderful to get our families together.
Love Cordell
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