MLK!

When I was very young, when people said MLK Day, I thought they were spelling "milk". No in my head MLK/milk day was a special milk drinking ceremony. Why or how I thought this is beyond me, but thankfully sometime in primary school we studied this great man. Throughout my life I found myself attracted to his speeches. His history was interesting, and what he accomplished was amazing. But what I loved most about him was listening to his speeches. He was such an amazing orator, he was mesmerizing. His cadence were poetic, his voice is charming yet pleading. Thankfully he lived in time where he was recorded.

There wasn't much I could do to celebrate him aside from listening to some of his speeches, but I admittedly did have a creamsicle in honor of him.

Three Kings/Epiphany

This sucks, I'm away from my family right now.  In my family it's know as the other Christmas. I do not know why my family does it this way, but it's a good day to give gifts to those you may have overlooked a few days previously. Traditionally this is a holiday celebrated by Christians, Mexican and Puerto Ricans refer to it as Three Kings and everyone else as Epiphany.

New Years Day!

Looking online, I noticed that most countries make the first two days of the year a national holiday but our country only makes the first of January a federal holiday. While I am all for an extra day of rest, it doesn't seem like we do much to warrant taking an extra day off. Sleeping off a hangover isn't something that requires two days off. One shouldn't drink that much to begin with.

Usually I spend this day working (voluntarily) because it is normally a day of time and a half, but alas I have no job right now so I'm forced into watching the Tournament of the Roses parade and trying in vain to keep my  video of the Philadelphia Mummer's Day parade streaming. This year is my first year being back home, which means I get to have my grandmother cook her legendary New Years ham, but I already miss taking the train down to Philly and watching all the string bands perform in the cold. It is hands down one of the best parades I have ever been to.

 On anther random note, this is my fave New Years song. Been on repeat all day.

New Years Eve

So this is my first time back home for years and while I wouldn't have minded going out and getting krunk, I also thought it would be more amazing to spend the time at home with my parents and enjoying their usual New Years celebration. So while it is going to be low key, I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

While I may never understand why television started showing Fred Astaire films after the ball dropped, I am thankful that "Top Hat" and "Swing Time" are in my life. And may it always be......

The Goal

I don't remember when the thought occurred to me but a friend posted pictures of a parade/celebration she attended in Richmond Hill,Queens and I was floored. Phagwah looked like the best time ever and I unfortunately missed it. A day filled with fun, food, and religious celebration went pretty much overlooked by New York as a whole. Just a small portion of Queens went hog wild for it. And with that knowledge I was floored.  I'm so used to celebrating only our nations holidays that I found it easy to overlook the holidays of our friends, ancestors, or neighbors.
I know it will be damn near impossible to celebrate every holiday, and what I can't do this year I can always try the year after. It's also hard to actually understand the history of certain days, but I hope it won't stop me from trying. All in all I want to attempt to understand and love every culture, it's local customs, it's people, and what better way than by celebrating their holidays?
In the end I expect that I will have learned some great new culinary dishes, have boned up on different nations' history and had a jolly good time. And as always I invite you to celebrate with me, wherever you may be.