Thanksgiving.
This past Thanksgiving, I tried to forget it. While I was in classes with students all day, I didn't want to be thinking about the fact that most of my family was together, eating sticky buns and turkey and pumpkin pie without me. So instead of thinking about it, I ignored it.
Before you start feeling sorry for me, I must tell you that my Thanksgiving was far from bad. Sure, the actual day was a bust (except for getting to skype in with the fam for a bit), but I had a fantastic Thanksgiving just a few days prior. Or should I say Thanksgivings.
Yes, in a country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving, on a day that was not Thanksgiving, I had TWO Thanksgiving dinners. I can't complain.
Thanksgiving #1
Who: Half of the Fulbright ETAs, teachers from the Fulbrighters' schools, representatives from the Conserjería de Educación, a few embassy folks, and... oh yeah, THE AMBASSADOR
Where: The ambassador's residence
When: Monday at typical Spanish lunchtime, typical American Thanksgiving dinnertime... 3:00 PM
I must say, I was pretty lucky to have gotten an invitation to this dinner! Last year, all of the Fulbrighters who weren't doing Global Classrooms (not me) got invited. This year, all of the Fulbrighters whose schools were new to Global Classrooms (not me) got invited. However, at some point, someone realized that I had been around for 2 years and had never gotten invited and added me to the list. Whoever that was, I want to publicly thank you. Really, thank you.
I took my camera to photograph my dinner (After all, how many times do you eat at the ambassador's house?), but got a little shy when I got seated at the same table as the ambassador's partner. I wasn't too sure it was socially acceptable to whip out a DSLR at a formal dinner to take pictures of what I was about to eat. But when one of the other ETAs pulled out her iPhone to do it, I decided to just go for it. Yes, I got a few laughs. But I also got a few snapshots to remember my delicious meal.
Turkey, green beans, cranberry relish, and stuffing... mmmmmmmmm!
Feeling official.
It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving if you had to choose desserts.
Lauren and I... Fulbright mentors!
Oh yeah, then there was the time I was interviewed on Spanish National Television!
Well, I guess I have fulfilled my 15 minutes of fame for life. I got e-mails and texts for days afterwards, not to mention the weeks of students approaching me, confused, to verify that they really had seen their English teacher speaking Spanish on TV. I think I convinced half of them that I was on TV because I'm famous... sarcasm isn't too easy to detect in a second language. Anyway, if you want to check it out, click the link above and fast forward to 37:00, where the Thanksgiving clip starts.
Thanksgiving #2
Who: My house church and Carmen
Where: Chris & Kara's house
When: Monday at typical Spanish dinnertime... 9:00 PM
Six hours was just enough time to let the food rest and squeeze in a tutoring session before starting the Thanksgiving dinner process all over again. The tutoring session right before dinner #2 meant that I had to take my dish of baked corn into a bar with me, but I was feeling pretty proud of my American tradition and successfully ignored the stares that I got as I sat down with Mohammed to have some coffee and review his paper with a 9x13 pan of corn in front of me. Crazy American. (Yes, this is the same bar where I ran into the glass door. Seems like I'm only reinforcing their stereotype of me as a crazy American....)
The girls at the dinner table. The boys were passed out on the chairs and sofa.
Operación Niño de la Navidad // Operation Christmas Child.
Teaching at Ramiro de Maeztu for a second year has definitely made things easier. I know the best times to make photocopies, I can re-use some lesson plans from last year, and I am getting to know my students on a deeper level. It also made it easier to implement a few extra projects that I wanted to do, like Operation Christmas Child.
For those of you that don't know, Operation Christmas Child is a project run by the NGO Samaritan's Purse. The project consists of sending shoe boxes filled with gifts to children who would otherwise not receive a Christmas present; it is something that I have been doing since I was a little girl with my grandma. Samaritan's Purse has been doing it since 1993 in the U.S. and started it about 7 years ago in Spain. This year, my church in Madrid was a collection point and was trying to do more to involve community members in the project, so I decided I would present it to my students. The project was an absolute hit! At least 50 students were involved and the school packed 24 boxes.
One of my 2° (8th grade) students with the label they put on the top of the box. They had to choose niño (boy) or niña (girl) and an age range: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14.
Two more 2° (8th grade) students wrapping the box.
The wrapping process was a bit complicated for many of my students, who sometimes didn't bother to cut off excess paper but instead crumbled it up and put a few extra pieces of tape on the inside to keep it down. Thus, I spent every free hour in the jefe de estudios's office, unwrapping boxes to re-wrap them or fixing up poor tape jobs. But in the end, it was all worth it because they enjoyed the process and were eager to give to kids less fortunate than them during the holiday season.
A few of the kids who were wrapping their boxes during the recreo.
Shoeboxes from Ramiro de Maeztu. Merry Christmas!
Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Christmas lends itself so well to sharing cultural customs, so I didn't stop with Operation Christmas Child; I decided to also do a Christmas cookie exchange. Over the past year, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about my baking skills, so I decided it was only appropriate that I try to foster the skill in my students.
The cookie exchange also went over well... I had 21 groups participate, each with 4 dozen cookies. That's over 80 dozen cookies in one room. I can't guarantee they were all edible, but they at least resembled cookies.
Setting the cookies up for the exchange
Students in line to get their first pick of cookies
Smiles all around! They must not have gotten the blue, flour-flavored or break-a-tooth-rock-hard cookies that I ended up with ;)
A photo contest.
Right before Christmas, Carmen's work had a photo contest on diversity. Carmen wanted to do something working with people, who together create something. So, we copied my idea from Thanksgiving last year to make a tree, with handprints serving as leaves, each with something written on it related to the person as a diverse individual. In the end, Carmen didn't win, but it was a fun afternoon spent getting to meet different people in our neighborhood.
Some kids in action
The end result... if nothing else, it made the bus stop a little more interesting :)
Christmas.
AWESOME. 'Nuf said.
Wedding shower.
After all of the hustle and bustle of a wonderful Christmas, Mom, Ashley (Ali's best friend from high school), and I set to work preparing for Ali's bridal shower...
We spent hours making those cookies! Good thing they were super cute!
Mom made the table runners and Ashley made the crafty little mason jars as decorations.
All of the girls of the Fre-Rogers clan at the shower. It's crazy to think that our youngest member is so grown up!
These are just a few of the pictures that I showed my Spanish co-workers in an effort to explain a completely foreign tradition. When they finally got an understanding of it, one said, "No, we don't have that here." Another responded, "Not yet, but just wait until Cortes Inglés hears about it."
Although the day was filled with love and excitement for preparing Ali for her future with Mike, it is true that Corte Inglés (Spain's department store) will probably promote the tradition here and turn it into a consumerist, second-rate version of a very special celebration. This has absolutely happened before; on the 9:00 PM news on Thanksgiving (a different version than the one that is linked above), the Thanksgiving dinner clip was cut short and they spent twice the amount of time covering Black Friday, which is a new tradition in Spain. Awesome. I think Spaniards would be happier if they had imported the tradition of eating turkey with their families and being thankful for all they have. But that's not the best promotional event for going shopping....
Although the day was filled with love and excitement for preparing Ali for her future with Mike, it is true that Corte Inglés (Spain's department store) will probably promote the tradition here and turn it into a consumerist, second-rate version of a very special celebration. This has absolutely happened before; on the 9:00 PM news on Thanksgiving (a different version than the one that is linked above), the Thanksgiving dinner clip was cut short and they spent twice the amount of time covering Black Friday, which is a new tradition in Spain. Awesome. I think Spaniards would be happier if they had imported the tradition of eating turkey with their families and being thankful for all they have. But that's not the best promotional event for going shopping....
Farm show.
Oh, the Pennsylvania farm show... yet another difficult concept to explain to Spaniards. The PA farm show is the largest indoor agricultural exposition in the nation and you can tell. When we first entered, we walked past a cornbox filled with children (like a sandbox but instead of sand, it was filled with corn), and then around a giant butter sculpture before we found ourselves in a maze of "First prize canned peaches" and 6,000 animals. Then, of course, there was the mix of real cowboys/cowgirls and wanna-be cowboys/cowgirls, who milled around the tractors with actual interest while younger versions of my sister and I tried to see how many kids they can fit in the wheels of the largest John Deers.
A rather fashion-forward chicken
But let's be honest, anyone who isn't competing for first-prize goat or vying for an award in the high school rodeo goes for one reason: THE FOOD. (I'm taking my gastro-tourism tendencies stateside.)
Milkshakes made by the PA Dairymen's Association? Delicious.
Potato donuts made by the PA Cooperative Potato Growers, Inc.? Scrumptious.
Maple syrup made by the PA Maple Syrup Producers Council? Delightful. (Especially for some Saturday morning pancakes in Spain!)
What could be better than PA's finest banding together to sell their best products in one food court? Not much. I had been waiting to repeat this experience since 2011 and I must say, it was just as wonderful as I remember it.
What could be better than PA's finest banding together to sell their best products in one food court? Not much. I had been waiting to repeat this experience since 2011 and I must say, it was just as wonderful as I remember it.
You won't ever find a milkshake as good as this one.
Friends and family.
And last, but not least, I got to spend time with my wonderful family and great friends. I spent a morning in NYC and ate a Levain cookie with Hanah. I played game after game (Ticket to Ride, Seven Wonders, Bananagrams, Quirkle, Dominion, Pandemic... if you don't know these, you obviously aren't a serious game person) with my siblings. I spent a morning listening to my grandfather's stories and eating waffles that my grandmother made in her mother's waffle iron. I went on a date with my Dad. I had tea with Natalie. I sat around the fire with my family while the snow blanketed our backyard. I gave hugs to my niece and nephew. I rapped a song at Ali's and Mike's engagement party. I stuffed myself with the food that my mom made (main ingredient: love) and remembered what it's like to eat around a family table instead of at my desk alone in my room. I enjoyed all of the moments that some people tire of because they get to experience them on a daily basis. And it was good.
Nanny and A, on A's 5th birthday
The Rogers girls and Firestine girls
(Please note Phoebe photo-bombing in the bottom right hand corner.)
Tami reading to B on the other side of the Christmas tree
It really was the most wonderful time of the year.
Much love,
Amber
