Yesterday on the phone a friend queried now that the semester was over how were the Christmas plans.  I laughed and said not.  She asked, Eve have you finished your shopping? No.  Are you going to go shopping? Maybe yes, near Christmas Eve, but I do not recall exactly what else I said; but what I remember is that I end up telling her my plans for Saturday.  I am spending the afternoon volunteering at the Mixteco/Idigena Community Organizing Project’s Fiesta Navideńa. My Pre-Columbian History of Mexico professor works with the community organization based in Ventura County.  The organization puts on an annual Fiesta for the poorest families of the county, Mixteco’s Indians. The community organization provides a Christmas dinner and a toy for each child.

If like my friend in New Jersey who had never heard of the Mixteco’s, maybe you have not either. But if you have ever ate a strawberry grown in California,  then the odds are about 95% that they were picked by a Mixteco.  They are lowest paid farm workers, who work from sun up to sun down stooped over picking strawberries and the many other agricultural crops of Ventura County. They speak an indigenous language, not only do many of them have trouble with English many do not speak Spanish either so it is difficult for them to make their way in community where English and Spanish are primary languages.

But I have majorly digressed, yesterday afternoon I reflected upon my conversation with my friend.  I realize that Christmas means so many different things to different people. To me, Christmas is about spending quality time with my husband, fixing his favorite dishes, listening to our favorite Christmas songs, watching our favorite Christmas movies and reminiscing about our Christmas trips before he got sick. The first years of our marriage, we would travel back to California and spend the holidays with my Grandmother then when she passed in November 2000 we traveled for the holidays.  For the next five years, we traveled, amazing times and memories. Our Christmas traditions have changed but our new traditions are as amazing as any of the previous ones.

So I put out to the universe:  What does Christmas mean to you? What traditions are special to you and your family?