Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Our Christmas posadas

It has been great to have ten days with my parents-in-law, my brothers-in-law, sister-in-law and lots and lots of Spanish speaking. Being the only family with grandchildren on my husband's side has its advantages. Many of the festivities took place at our house. One of the highlights was that we put on our very own pastorela (nativity play). My youngest son was a donkey, my eldest an angel and my brother and sister-in-law (who are newlyweds) got to be Mary and Joseph. We did no preparations in advance other than making crowns for the three kings, donkey ears and throwing together a manger. It was fun though to read directly from scripture and just kind of improvise the acting with what was read aloud. We did it only for ourselves, there was no audience, but it felt good remembering the purpose of the season in such a hands-on way. My sister-in-law especially liked it when my youngest exclaimed "Tia!" for the first time at the end of our closing song. What can I say, it was a hallelujah moment!

There were pre-party setbacks, emotional family meetings and even late-night stitches this holiday (think forehead to sharp-cornered shoe stand!) but our family has been brought closer together and we're stronger for it. Strengthening these ties is, I hope, the foundation my children will need to keep hold of their Latin culture and Spanish-language heritage.

And my side of the family was a part of the action too. My siblings watched El Grinch (The Grinch in Spanish) with the rest of us and sang us villancicos they learned in their dual-language academy. Ever since my parents and younger siblings have buckled down and started learning Spanish, it has thrown a curve into my 2 year old's language separation. With talk of regalos and navidad coming from his tios who 6 months prior spoke no Spanish at all, he started chiming out in Spanglish "Quiero open it" with gusto during present unwrapping time.

Needless to say, we had a blast this Christmas.

Me in a nutshell

Under One Techo | Under One Roof
I grew up an air-force brat, on bases and off bases, statewide and on foreign soil. Having lived in both Japan and Los Angeles (Little Mexico!), I have a love for both the Latin and Asian communities. But above all that lies a commitment to God, marriage, and family as the backbone of society. And with that, let the crazy, cultural mash-up begin..