Last year we “celebrated” Hispanic Heritage Month at the Neville Public Museum for the opening of their new exhibit, Out of the Shadows. The exhibit featured Hispanic Americans living in Brown County, Wisconsin. My son was one of the residents featured in the exhibit. This year we’re celebrating a little more simply with tortilla and piñata making at the library.
Why Celebrate?
With a family separated between two countries and languages, we take every opportunity to look for similarities and connections between the two countries. Living in the United States we are surrounded by American culture. It’s a bit harder for us to find authentic Mexican cultural and Spanish language activities. While I have my eyes and ear open for these types of things year round, Hispanic Heritage Month is a way for us to make time each year to specifically maintain and strengthen those connections.
We Heart Our Biblioteca during Hispanic Heritage Month
Disclaimer: I work for a public library. I do not claim to be objective…but dang, I love libraries.
Nearly every year we’ve been able to attend a great cultural or educational event in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month at one of our area libraries. This year one of our library branches offered a Family Fiesta. A local piñata maker demonstrated how she and her husband make piñatas. It turns out we drive by her home all the time and wonder who lives there because their garage is FULL of piñatas hanging from the ceiling. She read from the bilingual book The Piñata Maker. After the presenter talked about tortillas briefly, kids (and adults) got to make their own corn tortillas and eat them hot off the griddle with chicharrón and agua de jamaica. I’m pretty sure my son now thinks the best way to stay connected to his family and culture is through food. He went back for seconds and thirds and has plans to make tortillas at home.
Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 – October 15. Check out your community offerings. There might just be some pretty chévere events going on!
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