Photo Project Day #12

Day #12: A picture of something you love.

I love a lot of things. But, I'd have to say, my family tops the list. It should be clear by now from previous posts that my family is awesome, hilarious, fun, and-- in more cases than we care to admit-- completely out of control (in an awesome, hilarious and fun kind of way).

In thinking about what I really love about my family, I decided that I was going to focus on one of my very favorite-- it not my absolute favorite-- time with them: In Tebra, Spain. For Grixo.

What is Grixo, you ask? Good question!

Grixo (the x is pronounced like an "sh". It's Galician!) is (allegedly) a religious festival. Some time a really, really, really long time ago (it almost sounds like a fairy tale, huh?), it was said that the Virgin Mary appeared on this mountain (Grixo). So every year on a Sunday in August, the village my dad is from (Tebra) honors this event with a hike up to the mountain. Once there, we do what all good Spaniards do-- eat, drink, dance and raffle off things like whiskey, cigarettes and, as of last year, live chickens.

It's a lot of really crazy fun. (Just ask, Cristina! Or any of my other awesome family members for that matter.)

I've always been very proud of my Spanish heritage (yes, Belen, the conqueror heritage.) I love that I grew up speaking Spanish. I loved going to Spanish school for 10 years on Friday nights (Really, I did. I mean it was school, duh! Even if my sisters always copied my homework.) I love that I have dual citizenship (It came in handy for a certain eight-year period not so long ago, cough, cough.) I love that I have family in Spain that I keep in touch with regularly and that I get to visit often.

I mean, let's be honest, what's there not to love? What with our tasty food (yay pork!), our amazing wine (albarino is delicious!), our siesta time (naps are essential!), and our inherent belief that we have to honor historical and/or religious events with a combo of the aforementioned food, wine and siestas? I am proud of Grixo.

Today's picture was taken at last year's Grixo and is quite possibly the only time ever in my entire lifetime that my father has looked directly into a camera and smiled for a picture. Two of my sisters, Ana and Sara are also in the picture. My cousins Cristina and Silvia were at Grixo as was my mom. My sister Laura and cousin Sonia couldn't make it and were missed greatly.

So there you have this rather long love post. I love my family. I love Grixo. And I especially love celebrating Grixo with my family. I'm already saving up for this year's trip. And I can't wait!