Sunday, November 28, 2010

Families celebrate alternative Thanksgiving with pizza and breadsticks

For many of us, Thanksgiving is a time for turkey, mashed potatos and gravy. But for others like the Hernandez family, Thanksgiving is a about pizza and breadsticks.It's an interesting take on a mexican/americans Thanksgiving tradition. Maria Hernandez was a student in my English class Freshman year. I remember her sharing her unique Thanksgiving experience with our class. I caught up with Hernandez last week and asked her a few questions about what Thanksgiving means to her.

Q: How long has your family been having pizza for Thanksgiving dinner?
A: For as long as I can remember. I think my parents never wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving, mainly because my Dad used to say how much he hated turkey. Pizza just sounded like a good choice.

Q: When does your family celebrate?
A: Thankgiving afternoon. We stuff our face with pizza, breadsticks and soda and then we eat chocolate cake and take a nap. We rent movies to and be lazy all day.

Q: Do you know why your family doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving?
A: I'm guessing it has something to do with my heritage. I don't think a lot of latinos celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico, so it just carried on through my parents and their past holiday traditions.

Q:What kind of pizza do you eat? Thin, crispy, deep dish? From where?
A: We usually order Pizza Hut because they're open and we get the dip dish crust. I'am a fan of their supreme and breadsticks. I don't skip on how much food I eat. I usually down at least four slices, three glasses of pop and two breadsticks.

Q: Does everyone from your family come over? Does this style of Thanksgiving take away from the meaning of the holiday.
A: Yes, it is a pretty big pizzariffic time. My aunts, uncles, cousins. It is just like another family gathering, but a little differnt. Even though my family doesn't eat the same food as a lot of people do, I still think about the holiday as a time for sharing and being together with the people I love. I like our family's Thanksgving tradition. It makes us special in a way. And I get an excuse to eat mass amounts of pizza once every year.

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