Tamales for Dummies

This is a better late then never post! Tamales are a big part of Christmas celebrations in Guatemala and other Latin American countries. If you have tried to make tamales and want to improve your methods or if you are totally new to this tradition Rockin Robins has something for you. They have posted a recipe for tamales complete with 9 pictures. This recipe explains what type of pot to use, how to roll the tamales, what masa packaging looks like in the store so you can find it, how to stack the tamales, etc...The recipe Rockin Robin uses is Mexican but the pictures and instructions are good for almost any tamale recipe so check it out:

http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/tamales-recipe.html

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Race and Biology

What box do you check off for your child's race? Who needs to know? Doctors do right? Or is race purely a social construct? Radio Lab, a fun intelligent public radio program, explores the biological basis of (or lack there of) race. You can listen to this show online here:

http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/category/podcasts/

You can also download it to your ipod or other MP3 player through itunes. Feliz Navidad!

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Guatemalan Christmas Decorations

For the past week La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo has been posting gorgeous pics of Guatemalan Christmas decorations. You can almost smell those manzanillas. Check out the pinos, pascuas, gallitos and more...

http://antiguadailyphoto.com/

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Dealing with Party Poopers

Transracial adoptee and adoptive parent Paula from the Anti-Racist Parent blog has many wonderful Christmas memories. In this article she shares happy memories and she explains how she deals with offensive comments that inevitably surface at large holiday parties.

http://www.antiracistparent.com/2008/12/15/not-always-a-holly-jolly-good-time/

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Helping Mayan Families

Recently BRAG member Julie H. and several other adoptive families traveled to Guatemala to work with the Mayan Families charity. They have posted some beautiful photos and have written touching stories about their experiences on their blog. Here's the link:

http://www.helpingmayanfamilies.org/Blog.aspx

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Parrandas and Posadas

Latino holiday traditions are alive and kickin' in Philadelphia. Taller Puertorriqueno, the Philadelphia Latino Arts institution, is organizing "Parrandas- the Latino version of Christmas caroling" this weekend. For more information visit their calender here:

http://www.tallerpr.org/getdoc/8d20f9c1-f858-4d1d-99cf-3d670cd5d923/.aspx

To learn more about Latino traditions in Philadelphia see what the Historical Society of Pennsylvania has to say:

http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=534

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Jewish and Guatemalan

One mom strives to raise a daughter who is proud to be Jewish and Guatemalan. She articulates the importance of incorporating birth culture, role models, and support groups into her daughter's life. Here's the article:

http://www.interfaithfamily.com/relationships/adoption/Raising_a_Jewish-Guatemalan_Child.shtml

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Dave Thomas Foundation

Celebrate adoption this Christmas. The Dave Thomas Foundation is selling Christmas ornaments to raise funds for children in the U.S. foster care system who need forever families. Here's the link:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=327855&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Don't miss The Dave Thomas Foundation annual television adoption special on December 23rd. It is full of heartwarming adoption stories. Click here for more info:

http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/Our-Work/A-Home-for-the-Holidays

Thanks to Angie for his info!

Cookies!

If you started baking holiday cookies, stop! You are probably missing a very important cookie cutter. Check this one out:

http://www.adoptshoppe.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=329

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Christmas in Antigua, GT

La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo is a blog run by art director Rudy Giron in Guatemala. In a post from Christmas Eve 2006 he captures the outdoor market where apples and fireworks are the hot items. Rudy describes the foods and traditions that take place at Christmas time in Guatemala. To learn more click here:

http://antiguadailyphoto.com/2006/12/24/christmas-colors-from-the-antigua-guatemalas-market/

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Spanish Christmas Greeting

If you are in contact with your child's foster family you are in luck. One of our bilingual members wrote

this greeting for us (translation below).

Foster Family Christmas Card:

Feliz Navidad!  Esperamos que ustedes esten gozando de la compañia de familia y amigos en esta epoca tan alegre.

Les estamos mandando fotos recientes de _________ (insert child's name).  Que maravilloso es de verlo

(use "verla" for a girl) crecer y aprender cosas nuevas cada dia. De nuevo les queremos agradecer por todo lo

que han hecho para nosotros.  Les pensamos con frequencia, y especialmente durante esta temporada especial.

¡Que suerte que tenemos de tener amigos en Guatemala como ustedes! 

Les deseamos lo mejor para las celebraciones y tambien para un año nuevo lleno de buenas sorpresas.

Con mucho cariño,

(Your names here)

Hint: On a Macintosh, Option n and then n again will give you the ñ with the tilde. For Microsoft word,
click on Insert>Symbol>Latin 1 and look for the “n” with the squiggle above it.

Happy Holidays! We hope that you are enjoying this holiday season. We have enclosed some recent pictures

of ________ (child's name). It is so exciting to see how much he/she changes and grows every day.

Thank you so much for all the love and kindness that you have shared with our family. We think of you often,

but especially during this time of year, when we realize that we have been blessed to have such special friends

in Guatemala. Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a new year filled with joyful surprises.

Sincerely,

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