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NOWCAP Torrington, Wyoming Family Literacy
ELA Department Magazine
A World of Diversity
December 2015
Contents
Did you Know That…………………………………………………………...pages 1-2
Our Christmas Stories………………………………………………………….pages 3-9
We Wish You a Merry Christmas………………………………………………page 10
Christmas is a time of sharing and joy. That is why most of the ELA students within the Adult
Education Program at EWC and the NOWCAP Wyoming Family Literacy Center in
Torrington came together and shared their Christmas stories in this special Christmas edition of
the ELA Magazine. I joined them and shared my Christmas story in this edition as well.
Enjoy!
Have a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Gabriela Banville – ELA Instructor and ELA Magazine Editor
1
Did You Know That?
DECEMBER INTERNATIONAL
HOLIDAYS
1 December
World AIDS Day
2 December
International Day for the Abolition of
Slavery
3 December
International Day of Persons with
Disabilities
5 December
International Volunteer Day for Economic
and Social Development
5 December
World Soil Day
7 December
International Civil Aviation Day
9 December
International Day of Commemoration and
Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of
Genocide and of the Prevention of this
Crime
9 December
International Anti-Corruption Day
10 December
Human Rights Day
11 December
International Mountain Day
18 December
International Migrants Day
20 December
International Human Solidarity Day
25 December
Christmas
31 December
New Year
2
These are the December holidays in the U.S.
Dec 6 Sunday St Nicholas' Day
Observance
Dec 7 Monday Chanukah/Hanukkah
(first day) Jewish holiday
Dec 7 Monday Pearl Harbor
Remembrance Day Observance
Dec 8 Tuesday Feast of the
Immaculate Conception Christian
Dec 12 Saturday Feast of Our Lady of
Guadalupe Observance
Dec 13 Sunday U.S. National Guard
Birthday Observance
Dec 14 Monday Last Day of
Chanukah Jewish holiday
Dec 17 Thursday Pan American
Aviation Day Observance
Dec 17 Thursday Wright Brothers Day
Observance
Dec 22 Tuesday December Solstice
Season
Dec 24 Thursday The Prophet's
Birthday Muslim
Dec 24 Thursday Christmas Eve
Observance, Christian
Dec 24 Thursday Christmas Eve State
holiday KS, LA, MI, NC, ND, OK, SC, TX,
VA, WI
Dec 24 Thursday Washington's
Birthday State holiday Georgia,
Indiana
Dec 25 Friday Christmas Day National
holiday, Christian
Dec 26 Saturday Kwanzaa (until Jan 1)
Observance
Dec 26 Saturday Day After Christmas
Day Observance
Dec 26 Saturday Day After Christmas
Day State holiday KS, KY, NC, NH,
SC, TX
Dec 31 Thursday New Year's Eve
State holiday LA, MI, WI
Dec 31 Thursday New Year's Eve
Observance
3
Our Christmas Stories
The next pages reflect Christmas memories of most of our ELA students at the Adult Education
Program, EWC and the ones studying ELA at the Wyoming Family Literacy Center in
Torrington, Wyoming. I, the ELA instructor, also engaged and shared my Christmas story with
everybody.
Here are our students’ Christmas stories:
“This is a Christmas story of my childhood in my home country, Guatemala. I remember that
there were many drinks, much food, new clothes we were wearing. My brother put up a real
pine tree and the house had a pleasant pine tree smell.
On December 24th we would fire some fireworks. The next day, my family and I travelled to the
beach, 25 minutes away, and had a good time there. We thought only of the vacation because
soon we were going back to school. It was a very nice time lived without any pressures or stress.
The change for me happened when I came to the U.S. It was exactly the reverse, and the sad
thing is that my and my husband’s families are far away, but we always celebrate with good
food, drinks, Christmas presents, and decorate our house. We also send gifts for the holiday’s
season to our families.” (Eva, ELA student at the Wyoming Family Literacy, Torrington)
“Christmas in Mexico was way different than here, in the USA for me.
I remember when I was a child in Mexico we lived in a small community; we knew most of the
people there. When we celebrated Christmas my mother invited a lot of people to come over and
celebrate with us. We all sang Christian songs and prayed for baby Jesus. After we were done
with all that, we were given a small paper sack which had some candy, peanuts, and one orange.
Then we all sat down and had something to eat. My mom usually made a big pot of tamales and
a lot of Buñuelos and a big pot of coffee; when we were done eating we would go to a big
Christian church and do the same thing: we were standing in line for a long time because there
were a lot of people from different towns and cities.
I remember building the Nativity Scene. We also used to help my mom mix mud and cut some
trees which were called guayacan. They were really nice trees and they made a nice Nativity
Scene. We also used to decorate it with spirals, stars, blinking lights and figures of Santa.
For me, moving to the USA was really different. Christmas is different from Mexico to here in
the U.S. because in Mexico we don't exchange gifts like we do here in America. But it's really
nice to exchange presents with our family & friends .Otherwise, Christmas is the same here as it
is in Mexico; we do get together with our families & friends to eat on the 24th & 25th.”
(Eduardo, ELA student at the Adult Education Program at EWC, Torrington).
4
Our ELA Instructor joined us and her Christmas story is reflected below:
Christmas in Romania is a major annual holiday, celebrated on the 25th of December, as in most
countries of the Christian world. The Christmas holiday was introduced once with the
Christianization of Romania but it was then interrupted during the Communist period (1948—
1989), as concepts such as religion, Jesus Christ or the Church were banned. In the post-
communist Romania, Christmas started being celebrated again more festively. (source:
en.wikipedia.org).
I personally love Christmas; it is my favorite time of the year. It is a time of sharing, reuniting,
and joy, the joy of Jesus Christ’s birth.
One of the dearest childhood memories related to Christmas is the decoration of the Christmas
tree which was usually a real one; I love the pine-tree smell, and I also like Christmas
decorations. I remember getting so excited about Santa’s coming on the night between Christmas
Eve and the first Christmas Day, as well.
Why did I mention the first Christmas Day? One of the Christmas traditions in Romania is
having three days of Christmas celebrations. It is almost like in the English Christmas Carol
entitled The Twelve Days of Christmas, but Romanians reduced that timeframe to three days
only. ♫
Another aspect of the traditional Romanian ways of celebrating Christmas that I miss here in
America is the Christmas Eve caroling: Romanians go from house to house, and sing Christmas
carols. There’s a wide repertoire of Romanian Christmas songs that people choose from when
caroling. Romanian communities in America keep this tradition as well, but the state of
Wyoming doesn’t have a Romanian community. In a way, this aspect is balanced by the fact that
there are a lot of Christmas concerts and Christmas Tree Fairs, even a Christmas parade, here, in
Torrington, and I like all these celebrations of the Christmas spirit.
The Romanian cities (as seen in the photos below) are beautifully decorated for the winter
holidays; it’s the same Christmas scenery that you would see in American rural or urban areas.
5
The traditional food that Romanians eat at Christmas time is based on dishes made of pork; my
mother is an expert at cooking delicious traditional Romanian Christmas food, but I remember
switching to dishes based on chicken mostly and less on pork during the past 15 years because of
health reasons.
I also love the American Christmas tradition of families gathering around the Christmas tree to
see and unwrap their Christmas presents. This tradition is currently seen more and more in
Romania as well.
I can’t wait for this winter holiday season! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
A part of my parents’ house in Romania in winter time
“I love Christmas and my family does too.
When I was young, on Christmas Eve at night, all my family including uncles, aunts, cousins,
and grandparents came together to celebrate Christmas. We all enjoyed homemade food, and
then we used to break a piñata. We usually stayed up until midnight so that we could welcome
the Christmas Day with a Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas in Spanish) greeting.
All the years my mom, one of my sisters and I put a real Christmas tree up. Many times Santa
brought very good candy.
When I moved to the U.S. it was different from Mexico, my native country, because families
here buy presents for Christmas.
Sometimes my family and I keep our Mexican tradition and we cook tamales for Christmas. My
kids always get excited about Christmas: they want to see the Christmas tree up and help to
decorate it and can’t wait for Santa (they even write letters to Santa Claus).
Look forward to this Christmas.” (Maria, ELA student at the Wyoming Family Literacy Center,
Torrington)
6
“I think the Xmas celebration is my favorite time. I remember when I was younger, how we were
waiting for the month of December to celebrate with our family. I don’t forget when my parents
said to us all the time: “If you are not a good kid, Santa Claus will not be coming this year,” so
we tried to obey. It is funny to remember all this today.
We grew up in the north of Mexico (Chihuahua State) where there is the border with the United
States (Texas), so we celebrate more in the style of the U.S. people. I hear my friends who live in
other cities, central or south of Mexico, and they celebrate differently from us, the people who
live in the north states of Mexico.
I remember these beautiful moments with love. For Xmas my grandmas, cousins, aunts,
grandpas, uncles and friends came together. We enjoy the food (turkey, tamales, rice, pork legs,
apple pies, pumpkin pies, peach pies, the desserts etc.), the Xmas songs, the dance and presents.
My parents tried every Xmas to bring presents for us, their kids. We were seven kids; can you
imagine the effort that they did for us? I’m glad and I say all the time thanks to my parents for
the time that they took for educating all of their children with love!
I wish I was back in Mexico to enjoy a Xmas with my family. The last time we had a bigger
Xmas party was in December 2006. That was the last Xmas with all the family together
including my dad because unfortunately he was very sick {cancer) and he passed away three
weeks later.
I came with my husband and my two boys here to the U.S. in August 2001. We moved to
Colorado and believe me, the first Xmas was sad because we were alone, so far from our
families. I remember I tried to celebrate it in the same way: with food. We bought a small turkey
and cooked mashed potatoes, salad, but I didn’t cook the pie, I bought it (ja-ja-ja). We also
bought presents and celebrated together. We bought the toys for our kids: Daniel and Abraham.
Daniel & Abraham enjoying the Christmas tree
in Colorado
7
I remember they wrote a long letter for Santa, but you know it was impossible to bring all they
wanted, so we bought some but not all.
I try to continue with the same tradition and we always teach our kids to not forget their roots.
They need to always remember their mom is from Mexico and their dad is from Texas. They
need to always keep in mind our Mexican culture because Mexico is a beautiful country. We call
my family all the time and try to visit them once a year.
God bless our families, I am proud of our family!!!” (Emma, ELA student at the Adult
Education Program at EWC, Torrington)
8
“I have good memories of Christmas when I was living in Guatemala, my native country.
We celebrated Christmas on December 24th. We enjoyed good food, family, and the birth of
Jesus Christ. It is a family tradition to make tamales to share with family and friends. I learned
how to make tamales by helping my mother in the kitchen. Everybody launched small fireworks
at the church; we sang and prayed about Jesus Christ’s birth.
On December 25th, after praying, we went to Christmas fairs.
In America, my family and I started celebrating Christmas according to the American traditions,
but I still keep some aspects of the way I celebrated Christmas with my family in Guatemala.
We make and eat tamales, mashed potatoes, ham and drink punch and champagne. For dessert,
we have apple pie and cake.
Here, we decorate our home and artificial Christmas trees, but in Guatemala my family and I
used to display the Nativity Scene as the symbol of this holiday.
This is my story about how I used to celebrate Christmas in my native country and my family’s
Christmas celebrations in America.” (Carmen, ELA student at the Adult Education Program at
EWC, Torrington)
9
“In China most people do not celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Chinese New Year. The New
Year’s Eve always falls on the last day of December according to the Chinese traditional
calendar. The Chinese New Year will be on the 8th of February 2016.
The New Year’s Eve is the biggest day of the New Year. On that day we need to clean and
decorate our house and cook many dishes. Also, on that day people go back home to reunite with
their families. Before dinner, parents need to pray and the men are the ones who lead the praying
part. Everybody needs to wear new clothes and shoes, then sit around the table and start to eat
delicious foods such as: zhong zi, kou rou, chicken, duck, and fish. After that, parents and
grandparents give out the red envelopes. That’s my favorite part of the New Year’s celebrations.
On the first, second, and last day of the New Year’s celebrations, which will be 16th of February
2016, we fast and pray before noon time. Also, on the first and last day of the Chinese New
Year’s celebrations, family and relatives send each other wishes of wealth and good health.
Since I moved to America, my sister’s family who also live in the U.S. celebrate Chinese New
Year, but in my own family we don’t often celebrate.” (Hua Mei and Ya Sheng, ELA students
at the Adult Education Program at EWC, Torrington)
Hua Jiao, another ELA student from China, added that usually the Chinese people have a week
off around the Chinese New Year’s celebrations and that her parents-in-law celebrate New Year
here in America, as well, keeping Chinese New Year’s traditions alive. (Hua Jiao & Lan Bao,
ELA students at the Adult Education Program at EWC, Torrington)
10
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin,
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Oh, bring us some figgy pudding,
Oh, bring us some figgy pudding,
Oh, bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.
We won't go until we get some,
We won't go until we get some,
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here!
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
11
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