Mrs. Osnow’s Class

  During my wonderful and tantalizing holiday vacation, I have been ecstatic being around my loved ones, opening incredibly wrapped presents, and finally counting down to the new and hopefully best year, 2008.

Nine Days of Praying
  Before my joyful holiday vacation, I, and my closest Ecuadorian family and friends prayed for one to two hours for nine days for the coming birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Eve. As you can see, my family is very religious. During these nine sacred days I became closer to my Lord, Jesus Christ, and learned that Christmas isn’t just about outstanding, breathtaking presents, but the birth of our Savior.
Finally, Christmas Eve!
  After the nine spiritually religious days, I woke up to the bright sun, realizing it was the holiest day of the year, Christmas Eve. I jumped out of bed and got ready to go “last minute shopping” for presents. We drove to the Galleria Mall in our shiny blue minivan which blended with the color of the sky. On the way to the mall I stared into the clouds and daydreamed how the day was going to ensue. We shopped for almost two endless hours. Sometime during those tedious two hours I spotted an Ecuadorian stand where they were selling momentos from Ecuador. There I bought myself a bracelet and my mother a golden necklace with green emeralds. When we arrived home, we roasted a pig’s leg in preparation for our holiday dinner. While we were distracted by a funny movie, the pig’s leg was burning in the oven, turning black and crispy! We fixed the disaster by removing the skin and making it edible and delectable. After dinner, we got dressed and headed to my Aunt Glenda’s house, who lives only a few blocks away from my family, to celebrate Christmas. At 12:00am we ate a deliciously prepared meal until 12:30am. After the appetizing meal, we eagerly opened our presents because that’s our family tradition. I received great gifts from my family. The best present I was given was a Visa gift certificate for 50 dollars that I can spend anywhere at any time. After everyone opened their presents, we had the most moist, mouth-watering chocolate cake.

New Year’s Eve
  That morning I woke up realizing that it was the last day of 2007. Later that day, our family visited my Uncle Freddy’s house in Brooklyn. He has a huge basement and that’s where everyone was gathering to wait for the shiny ball to drop on T.V. As 12:00 approached, we followed a family tradition, which is to eat one grape every minute for twelve minutes while making twelve resolutions before midnight. Once the ball dropped, we hugged each other and said “Happy New Year!!!” We then rushed outside and participated in another Ecuadorian tradition which is to burn a “dummy” that represents 2007 with a highly flammable substance. We continued the festivities inside the house.

This holiday was phenomenal and I am looking forward to the next one!