"You have a heritage; honor it!"

We have always been enouraged to honor our heritage; be it Latin, Spanish (yes, they are different... and they should not all be referred to as Mexicans, that's just ignorant!), French, German, Mormon Pioneer, etc. In our stake we have two Spanish speaking branches, and we serve, as a family, in one of the them. Each year our stake puts together a Latin festival of sorts to do just that. Last year we decided to stop by, and Cesar was so disappointed with the display (or lack thereof) at Chile's table... He was determined, this year, to make it better! He decided that he would learn his coutnry's national dance, la Cueca. He borrowed the clothing (el Traje de Huaso) from his uncle, talked his aunt into dancing with him and got his sister, Pamela, and mom to make some of the delicious, native food! Pamela made empanadas, pevre (not sure of the spelling, but its a salsa/ pico de gallo type of side... LOVE IT!) and calzones rotos (which literally translates to "ripped underwear"... "girls" underwear, specifically... why its called this, is unknown, but its basically dough that has been tied in a knot and deep fried then sprinkled with a bit of powdered sugar). My mother-in-law made pastel de choclo, MY FAVORITE (this is similar to shepard's pie, but imagine no mashed potatoes or green beans and add a sweet, creamed corn of sorts... not the best description but soooooooo delicious... and I hate shepard's pie) and pan (bread).

There were so many countries with representation: Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Honduras, Mexico & Peru, to name a few... It was such a great event to be a part of... and I really wasn't "part" of it. There were moments that I would just stare at the people and think how cool it must be to come from a place, so different from this, and be able to share their culture with someone like me. It opened my eyes, my mind and my heart to things that they were otherwise closed to just to see the joy this celebration brought them. While he is pretty "americanized," my husband is so pround of who he is and where he came from. I am proud, too. I hope to, along with Cesar, encourage that pride in MiLo (and our future children), while, in turn, learning more about my own heritage.

Cesar & his Tia Blanca

(is he, like, sexy or what??!!)

Pastel de Choclo (top) - you may spy a black olive or two, hard boiled egg, ground beef & chicken (it usually has raisins, but I do not like them so my mother-in-law made me a whole pan without!); Calzones Rotos (bottom left) without the powdered sugar & Pevre (bottom right)

Cousins