Christmas and New Year!

 

We spent Christmas in Queretaro this year, enjoying both Mexican and United States Christmas traditions! 

Above, we are at the annual Queretaro Bible story parade, getting our favorite goodies from the food booths!

 Below, watching "A Christmas Story!"

 

We went to Mexico City for New Years to visit JP's dad.

 

 

JP with the Happy New Year 2014 sign in Mexico City

 

Jessica's favorite animals at the Chapultapec Zoo - Giraffes! 

 

JP with his favorite, the Rhino!

 

With the Independence Angel behind us

 

 

Vic (dad) and JP going into a below-ground museum in Mexico City

 

Us with Grandma Conchita and Vic

Año Nuevo

Año Nuevo, or New Years, has a few interesting traditions that come with it in Mexico!

The most common Mexican tradition (that isn't used in the USA), and the only one I've participated in is the midnight grapes tradition.  Instead of watching the ball drop in Times Square, a group of Mexican TV stars, newsanchors, and other famous people get together on TV and at midnight there are twelve clock chimes.  At home, you should have prepared 12 grapes for each person present.  For each clock chime you put a grape in your mouth (I'm unsure as to whether or not you're supposed to chew it right away or not!), the chimes go fast, so you (and the famous people on TV) end up with a mouth full of grape by the time it's done!  :)

Another tradition is that you should get an empty suitcase or some type of luggage out, and run around the block with it at midnight (I'm assuming after the grapes! heehee!).  Supposedly if you do this, you'll travel somewhere cool during the next year.

And, if you come visit us during December in Mexico, you'll notice that WalMart and similar stores have a huge stock of yellow and red underwear.  If you want to get more money in the new year, you should be wearing yellow underwear at midnight.  If you want to fall in love, you should be wearing red underwear.  And you have to choose one - no wearing two pairs of underwear because then it doesn't work! 

Apparently, last New Year's Eve JP and I didn't watch the ball drop in Times Square.  In the morning on the 31st, we were watching the Today Show, and they were lifting up the ball over Times Square.  I explained to JP that for the minute befre midnight the ball will start dropping.  He said he wanted to see it because it's a really big ball and he wanted to see it shatter all over the place.  When I said it doesn't shatter, it just "lands" at the bottom and makes the big 2013 light up, he was like, "What?!  What's the point of that?!"  Good point JP.  I guess every country has some nonsensical traditions!  But they're fun anyway!

Holidays!

This was our second holiday season in the United States - it was good to be able to spend it with my family again!  We spent Christmas morning with Rick and Barb, had Christmas lunch/dinner with the Lanes, then went to the church where we opened it up for anyone who may not have had Christmas plans to come to and enjoy dessert and games!  We ended up having a whole meal at the church, as a family brought their Christmas soup, which is has noodles and fish in it, and also rice and kimchi!  It was yummy! 

 

 

 Rick and Barb

For New Years, JP and I went to hang out with a few other families - again eating Korean food, which neither of us had ever had before Christmas this year - playing lots of games and talking until midnight.  The next day, we had the Gillette family (my mom's side) party.  It was good to see aunts, uncles, and cousins again!

 

New Year's Eve dinner

 

Gillette family party!

Goodbyes and Holidays!

Our good friends Justin and Lluvia left Queretaro this past weekend to move on to a new ministry assignment.  I've worked with them the whole time I've been in Queretaro, and JP worked with Justin even a bit longer than that!  So we're sad to see them go, but happy that they will be used in another country soon!

Jean Paul, Jessica, Lluvia, Justin, and our good friends Sandy and Luis.

September 16th was Mexican Independence Day, so we got to celebrating on the 15th and 16th!  My first Mexican Independence actually being a Mexican!

We celebrated at church this year :)

Some of the ladies that participated in the "traditional dress" contest at church:

JP and his mom in front of the Queretaro State Capitol building

Every time is food time on this blog:

Here's a common snack in Queretaro: a big crispy pork rind with cabbage, tomatoes, onions, salsa, and thin strips of PICKLED PORK SKIN on top.  NOT one of my favorites, but it's quite popular!

This IS one of my favorites, in fact there were made at my house by me for lunch on the 16th - Queretaro Guajolotes (wah-ho-LO-tays) or in Mexico City they're called pambazos (pahm-BAH-sohs)  - sandwiches where the bread is dipped in sauce and roasted, filled with beans, cheese, chorizo sausage, onion, lettuce, and cooked squares of potato and carrot.  REALLY YUMMY

And the typical elotes (ey-LO-tays) - corn on the cob covered in mayonaise, grated white cheese, chile powder and lime!  We had a guest from Guadalajara at our house for lunch the other day and we were talking about typical foods in Queretaro and Guadalajara, and he just about gagged when we said we eat mayonaise and cheese on corn...  I guess that's only in this region of Mexico!

We had a great weekend!

La Rosca de Reyes

First of all, if you haven't seen the pictures of our New Year's in Mexico City, see post below!

We have another Christmas time holiday here in Mexico that isn't commonly celebrated in other countries (well, maybe Latin America, I'm not sure!)  It's "Wise Men Day."  This is the day where we commemerate the wise men bringing Jesus gifts.  Like Christmas, this day has turned into a gift-buying night-mare, in which the real significance of the day gets totally lost.  But, on January 5th, kids get a helium-filled balloon and attach a piece of paper denoting the present that they want.  Supposedly, the wise men come that night and bring them the gift.  On January 6th, kids wake up and lo and behold, the gift they asked for! 

Since this is a day for kids, adults don't get presents.  We get "Rosca de Reyes" bread. 

This bread is special.  Apart from having candied fruit, figs, and walnuts on top, it carries surprises in it too.  Each rosca contains a little white plastic doll (like a plastic army-man, just it's in the form of a baby) baked inside.  Depending on the size of the rosca, there may be multiples.  And there's a catch to the dolls.  Each person cuts their own slice of rosca.  And if they uncover a doll, or there's a doll hidden in their slice, they must buy tamales for everyone present on February 2.  I guess that's why there's more dolls for a bigger rosca - so tamales for 20 people can be bought between 5 or 6 people.  I ALWAYS get a doll.  Every year.  Last night, JP and I went to a prayer meeting for Horizonte Church leaders.  Being January 6th, we cut a rosca.  JP got a doll.  We foung 5 dolls in total, and there was a lot of rosca left.  I took a slice home, thankful that I didn't owe tamales in February!  And, as I was eating the bread at home, I bit the doll!  But we'll just say it didn't count because I wasn't with the others who cut the rosca when I found it...  :)

Just a little interesting piece of Mexican culture for you!

New Year's in Mexico City!

Jean Paul and I went to Mexico City last week to spend New Year's with his dad (Vic)!  We'd gone to visit before, but always just for Saturday and Sunday.  This time we went December 30 - January 3, almost a week!  It was a relaxing time, and we were also able to be tourists for a while, as well as spend New Year's Eve with Vic's family!

First stop was the Chapultapec Zoo!

I love giraffes!

JP and Vic at the Zoo

New Year's Eve at Grandma Conchita's house!

There were probably about 30 people in total - aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousin's kids (JP and I are the youngest of the cousins)  Most of the relatives were people we'd never met before, or who JP hadn't seen since he was 5!

Here's JP with Aunt Mari (in purple), Uncle Lorenzo (the older gentleman), three cousins and two kids!  We'd met Mari and Loren before, but this was the first time meeting the cousins!

It was great to be considered part of the family even though most relatives hadn't seen JP for almost 25 years!  The little kids even called us Uncle Paul and Aunt Jessi! 

 Here's us with Vic and Grandma!

We rung in the new year in the traditional way - counting down to midnight, then eating a green grape for each of the 12 clock chimes, and singing the National Anthem after.  Jean Paul and cousin Carlos did a piñata for the kids... a piñata filled with manderin oranges, caña (sugar cane?), and jicama!  Now THAT is traditional!

On New Year's Day we headed to a part of Mexico City called Coyoacan.  It's almost like a small town fit into the big City!  But it was PACKED on January 1st - not much is open on New Year's and everyone gets bored, so going to Coyoacan is apparently quite the thing to do!

We ate our very favorite fried quesadillas in the food market!  Uncooked tortillas are filled with cheese and your choice of: shredded chicken, mushrooms, sausage, shredded beef, mashed potatoes, chile poblano, ground beef, or any variety of other foods, including three that are very strange for people in the United States - cooked cactus leaf, the orange flower the grows on the end of zucchini, and CORN SMUT.  Yes, you read correctly - corn smut - the fungus that grows between the husk and the corn on the cob!.  It's actually really good!  Then the uncooked tortilla with it's filling goes into the oil to cook to perfection!  Top it off with hot salsa and a fruit punch pop, and it's EXCELLENT!

Here's JP and Vic at the food market!

And in one of the four HUGE malls that we went to, we found something that's not quite so unusual for people in the States but IS for us:

A Dairy Queen Blizzard!  YUM!

We had a great time in Mexico City, and hope to be going back more frequently, even if just for a weekend, to visit!

Navidad in Queretaro

Christmas time is always fun in Queretaro!  Since we have few family members living in Queretaro, and they were out of town this year, JP and I celebrate just the two of us, but by going to the Centro for the Bible-story-float-parade and the yummy food-booths!

This year we ran into Gaby and her dad!  I lived with Gaby and her teenage kids for my first two years in Queretaro!

Christmas dinner for us consisted of lots of street booth goodies!  This was the first time we'd seen pronto pups - JP LOVES them!!

And my favorite bread EVER - Pan de Acambaro!  It's very soft sweet bread with a few nuts in it, and the ovens are right there under the tarps on the street, so we get it fresh and hot from the oven!

We had a pretty laid back Christmas - the parade, sleeping late, watching movies etc.  It was good!

Thanksgiving... Mexican Style!

We celebrated a fun Thanksgiving this year at our house with several friends.

Here's me preparing the pumpkin pie the night before with my trusty milkshake blender.  I'm creative, I don't need a mixer!  :)

Justin and Lluvia showing off some of the food!

We had chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, salad, and deviled eggs, with pumpkin pie for dessert!

Our guests - Justin, Lluvia, Jean Paul, Noe, Job, Anne, and I'm taking the picture

We had a good time eating, talking, eating, laughing, eating... 

And here's my favorite part of the meal...  I was making the pie and remebered that I never asked to borrow a pie pan from anyone.  So I chose the next best thing.  And it IS a PIE, not pumpkin bars, and it turned out GREAT!

We like Thanksgiving!!

Christmas and New Year

Hello!  We DID, in fact, have a quite nice Christmas this year.  Very low key, but good.  JP and I went to the Centro with his mom to watch the annual Bible-story-float parade.  It was beautiful, as always!  We decided not to cook anything for dinner, so we went for pizza instead!

And for New Years, we went to the home of our friends Ricardo and Ana, to eat LOTS of yummy, greasy food, and hang out until we were all about ready to keel over from being tired at about 12:30...  We're no longer young people...  heehee!

The year is off to a good start, and we're looking forward to what God has for us, and the many probable changes that are to come!

Pre-Christmas Events

Two of our favorite events of December were the couples' dinner at Horizonte Church (our FIRST event for married couples that we've been able to attend!)

And the Young Adults' Christmas party... complete with piñata, steak, desserts, and weird games.