Is your favorite holiday Christmas, if you celebrate it? Mine is for sure Christmas because I look forward to so many traditions. Especially the amazing food! Around two weeks before Christmas my family and I make a food called pasteles. They are mashed up plantains with pork and olives inside. My uncle is the one who gathers everyone and we stay at his house most of the time until midnight making them! My mom has 5 brothers but 3 live in NY and so it’s a pretty big family. Every time we make pasteles we all have a part into doing something because we make a lot and it’s a lot of work! I used to not really help out and I’d just watch and eat them but I learned a little more about them and wanted to participate so I was able to tie them because they have to be made in paper, tied then boiled. There was a special way of tying them and took a few practices to learn. We make almost 100 a year because we have some the day we make them, some during Christmas, and each family takes some home.

– Arianna Rodriguez

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant