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| The finished product. I hope we made enough for everyone (seriously) |
This will be my first Christmas away from home. I will be in Guatemala. While I am very sad that I won't be celebrating with my family, I am trying to make the most of it and bring some of our traditions here to Guatemala. Therefore I decided to make Christmas cookies with my host family. We made two different types of cookies: sugar cookies, and candy cane cookies. Without refrigeration and a couple other minor things that the recipes call for I figured this way at least one of them might turn out well. The sugar cookies turned out a little different than normal, but both ended up tasting great! We also had a holiday movie night a couple days ago where I showed them Frozen in Spanish projected on a white sheet on the wall of their kitchen.
I like getting the boys to help to show them that cooking (or arts and crafts, etc.) isn't just women's work. The men in my host family hardly ever (basically never) wash the dishes or cook the food and are served their meals by their wives, daughters, and sisters. Dan, however, (the young boy on the left in the pictures above and below) is always the first to participate and help out with my activities. While an article was just published online of the 39 Most Iconic Feminist Moments of 2014, parts of rural Guatemala are still a little behind the times in terms of gender roles and stereotypes. Wow this blog post took a turn. Anyway. Yay cookies! A fun time was had by all. :) Feliz Navidad.
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| It was an all-ages event |
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| I even got my new sitemate/housemate to help out (right) |
The cookies certainly look like the real thing. Sometimes the results from having to improvise improve on the original. Everyone seems to be having a good time.
ReplyDeleteI love the smiles on the faces of your host family - that says it all. I expect this is a Christmas that both you and your host family will remember. I'm so proud of you for sharing your traditions and improvising as necessary in a very different environment. I'm thinking baking Christmas cookies back in the US might seem a bit boring after your Guatemalan experience.
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