26.11.10

Thanksgiving at I.E.S. Los Álamos

     In celebration of Thanksgiving Day, the English teacher of my youngest group of students (1º de la E.S.O., or first year of middle school) held a pie contest using American pie recipes in English. (Actually, they called it a pie contest but in the end there was no judge and thus, no winner.) The students were divided into groups and made various pies, from chocolate to lemon to pumpkin to apple. 
     I tried a bite of several of the pies as their makers eagerly asked me if it tasted just like the pie is supposed to taste. I had to tell one confused group of eleven-year-olds that I had in fact, never heard of "butter pie" (no idea why they were assigned that recipe), but what I tasted was the closest thing to butter pie except for (maybe) pure butter. 
    The majority of the pies were not excellent, but very few were terrible, and a couple were surprisingly excellent. I don't blame the students - not only did they most likely have trouble understanding some of the recipe's instructions, but many were unable to find the right ingredients and had to substitute honey for corn syrup or chestnuts for pecans. The pies were sold during recreo (recess) and the proceeds will most likely go towards a party for the grade. The students were just adorable about the whole thing - so proud of their creations and so out-of-control excited to eat and sell pie.
 Yes, this (butter) pie says, "happy".

 This "pecan" pie (not quite sure what this group used as a pecan substitute...) was surprisingly delicious.
 If I were the judge, this apple pie would have won. Tasted pretty much just like an American apple pie!
This pumpkin pie wasn't bad...
Riki (in the green shirt) is one of my favorite students (I know I shouldn't have favorites but it's nearly impossible not to). He can be out of control but is mature enough that I can level with him. He makes me laugh.

camera shy

 These twins, Andrea y María, wear the exact same outit every single day. How on Earth do they expect me to be able to tell them apart?

 Me with some of my 3º (older) students. I guess it's cool to not smile.






Poor Alejandro was sooo excited about his butter pie. When I took a bite of it he told me, "it's made of almost all butter." Oh, wonderful.

 Oh heyyy Pablo.

Besides the pie sale, Thanksgiving was a fun day at the Institute. I taught my students about Thanksgiving, the way we celebrate the holiday (the three "F's": family, football, and food), and its history dating back to 1621. I found myself getting surprisingly patriotic about the whole thing. I never knew that Thanksgiving was made an official holiday during the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln, who hoped that the holiday would bring a moment of peace during such a tumultuous time in our nation's history (actually, I probably did know that in elementary school, but at this point it's as if I never did...). Gratitude is a powerful virtue and I'm glad that our country chooses to make a day (or rather, a couple of days) to devote to giving thanks. Even better that giving thanks comes in the form of eating a ton of food.

This Thanksgiving I'm grateful for Thanksgiving, because it's just sad to not have a holiday in between Halloween and Christmas.
With a few of my classes, I taught my students how to draw turkeys by tracing their hands, and had them write a couple of sentences about what they are grateful for this year. My favorite sentences? Those that revealed the students' gratitude for their English teachers. 

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