Dia de Gracias
Thanksgiving is an American holiday, so it's obviously not on the calendar in Mexico. But that doesn't mean we didn't celebrate it this week!
Thursday is our cook's day off, so it naturally fell to Randy to put together a menu for our Thanksgiving dinner. He went the traditional route... turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie... and just to spice it up a little -- cornbread muffins laced with jalapeños. A couple from church donated the pies, and the Lion's Club brought us two turkeys.
Only the secondary school kids went to class that day, so I asked if we should do activities with the younger ones. Ask and you shall be put in charge! I raided the supply closet and found construction paper, which I cut into strips that the kids could write what they are thankful for on.
Of course the word for thankful is completely unpronounceable: "agradecido." I explained to the kids what I wanted them to do, but 11-year-old Brayan had to jump in and save me each time I got to "agradecido."
There were absolutely no complaints about the activity. No one said they didn't know what to write (or draw, for the littler ones). In fact, several kids came up and asked if they could have more paper. These kids who have been neglected, abused, abandoned, and yet their hearts overflow with all that they have to be thankful for. And of course it tugged at my heart to see them be thankful for us and for Jovi ("Yobi").
After we had put together our gratitude chain, they asked for another activity. I found a stash of paper plates and we traced our hands and made Thanksgiving turkeys. I didn't want to make it too complicated or messy, so our only "extra" for this activity were googly eyes.
Once the kids had sufficiently colored their hands and the tables and their outfits blue and purple and brown and green, the dorm mamas took them all to their rooms to get ready for dinner.
Before we could eat, though, everyone had the opportunity to stand up and say what they were thankful for. Several of the dorm mothers expressed their gratitude for their jobs here at Sonshine Hacienda. Mama Imelda, who was recently promoted from dorm mom to administrator, gave thanks that Gary and Karen believed in her enough to give her this opportunity. Several of the kids stood and gave thanks for the mamas and papas, their siblings, and their health. Randy and I gave thanks that we had been invited to be part of the Sonshine Hacienda family.
And then we ate! The kids eyes were huge as they went through the buffet line, piling their plates high. Typically they are required to clean their plates, so a few of the kids I had to give permission to throw away what they didn't have room for (or feed it to the dinosaurs).
After all, we had four pies and two trays of jello salad to go through! (Four-year-old Sugey told one of the mamas that she didn't like it when Papa Randy made lunch because he makes too much food and she can't eat it all!)
After the meal we put on a movie for the kids. But two hours later, Brayan says to me: "Mama, what's for supper?" Seriously? "Are you hungry?" I asked. "Si," he said. "Cereal," I replied. "Yay!" all the kids approved.
We survived our first "dia de gracias" in Mexico!
Thursday is our cook's day off, so it naturally fell to Randy to put together a menu for our Thanksgiving dinner. He went the traditional route... turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie... and just to spice it up a little -- cornbread muffins laced with jalapeños. A couple from church donated the pies, and the Lion's Club brought us two turkeys.
Only the secondary school kids went to class that day, so I asked if we should do activities with the younger ones. Ask and you shall be put in charge! I raided the supply closet and found construction paper, which I cut into strips that the kids could write what they are thankful for on.
Of course the word for thankful is completely unpronounceable: "agradecido." I explained to the kids what I wanted them to do, but 11-year-old Brayan had to jump in and save me each time I got to "agradecido."
There were absolutely no complaints about the activity. No one said they didn't know what to write (or draw, for the littler ones). In fact, several kids came up and asked if they could have more paper. These kids who have been neglected, abused, abandoned, and yet their hearts overflow with all that they have to be thankful for. And of course it tugged at my heart to see them be thankful for us and for Jovi ("Yobi").
After we had put together our gratitude chain, they asked for another activity. I found a stash of paper plates and we traced our hands and made Thanksgiving turkeys. I didn't want to make it too complicated or messy, so our only "extra" for this activity were googly eyes.
Once the kids had sufficiently colored their hands and the tables and their outfits blue and purple and brown and green, the dorm mamas took them all to their rooms to get ready for dinner.
Before we could eat, though, everyone had the opportunity to stand up and say what they were thankful for. Several of the dorm mothers expressed their gratitude for their jobs here at Sonshine Hacienda. Mama Imelda, who was recently promoted from dorm mom to administrator, gave thanks that Gary and Karen believed in her enough to give her this opportunity. Several of the kids stood and gave thanks for the mamas and papas, their siblings, and their health. Randy and I gave thanks that we had been invited to be part of the Sonshine Hacienda family.
And then we ate! The kids eyes were huge as they went through the buffet line, piling their plates high. Typically they are required to clean their plates, so a few of the kids I had to give permission to throw away what they didn't have room for (or feed it to the dinosaurs).
After all, we had four pies and two trays of jello salad to go through! (Four-year-old Sugey told one of the mamas that she didn't like it when Papa Randy made lunch because he makes too much food and she can't eat it all!)
After the meal we put on a movie for the kids. But two hours later, Brayan says to me: "Mama, what's for supper?" Seriously? "Are you hungry?" I asked. "Si," he said. "Cereal," I replied. "Yay!" all the kids approved.
We survived our first "dia de gracias" in Mexico!
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