When the Ecuadorian Estela Blandón went to the airport last Saturday to wait for her mother, her legs were shaking. The minutes that passed while she landed the plane seemed endless to her. It was not be for lowerly.
Does 24 years old, at a very young age, this Queens resident emigrated from native Manta from her to seek better life opportunities in New York. And since then, he had never seen his mother.
But what he describes with his “heart racing” as one of the happiest days of his life coincides with Thanksgiving week de Gracias’, a holiday that unites all American families, which has been adopted by the majority of Hispanic immigrants as their own.
“Imagine if I have to thank. After 24 years without hugging my mother, now I have her with me”, Adela said while buying a turkey and vegetables for dinner this Thursday with his children and brothers in a supermarket in the neighborhood of Corona.
The great difference of this celebration of 2022 for this immigrant family, is that the table will be headed for the first time by Mrs. Maria, who still She is not clear about the emotion she feels when meeting her children and grandchildren, many of whom she did not know in person.
“It is very exciting. I have always been very grateful to everything. But this year is incredible”, he managed to say.
Estela, who has worked very hard as a merchant since she arrived at country, says that almost from the first year he arrived in the Big Apple, he loves the meaning of ‘Thanskgiving’ as a celebration.
“We always have a lot to be thankful for. We are alive. We have health. And now this year is great, because something I thought would never happen is happening to me. I can hug my mom!”
A party that moves fibers
The so-called ‘turkey festival’ transcends any religious belief and in the calendar it is the first great chime of the Christmas and New Year holidays. And a moment that moves in very different ways, many fibers.
“I think that those of us who come here looking for opportunities should always be very grateful. And continue with love this tradition. I remember that only once did I not have the emotion of preparing the turkey because I was sick. Other than that, it is a very special moment for my family”, the Ecuadorian reiterated.
But the maternal hug that Estela receives this year and that she missed for a long time, is precisely one of the great yearnings of other immigrants, for whom the journey to achieve the ‘American dream’, on some occasions implies crossing the complicated limit of family separation and loneliness.
For example, for the Mexican Gabina Santamaría, the parties that are to come do not “personally” have any special meaning.
“I am here in this country alone with my daughter. For me these days are not for celebration. Every big family is on their own. For those of us who live practically alone, we rather want these days to go by quickly”, he confesses.
In parallel, thousands of new Hispanic immigrants, recent arrivals in the Big Apple, are barely trying to understand this commemoration that unites all cultures and beliefs that coexist in this country.
Such is the case of more than 11, people who arrived in the migratory wave between May and October of this year, who will be in their first ‘Thanskgiving’ in shelters , but with the hope that in the coming years they will be able to have a better life.
“Obviously as immigrants who arrived with nothing, at this moment our only option in life is to survive and adapt. But yes, with the great certainty that with hard work in the coming years we will be able to have a table where we can sit down and shout very loudly: Thank you!”, said the Venezuelan Mildred Castaños, from 31 years old, who lives with her daughter in a temporary shelter in Queens.
For the Mexican Gabina Santamaría these days do not have a special significance. (Photo: F. Martínez)
The important thing is to thank
But if in 1863 and in 2022 the dates of “Thanksgiving” were threatened by a public health crisis and also overshadowed by mourning, this year they will be somehow defined by one of the inflationary indices more extremes in 32 years.
This price increase was also experienced by the turkey pound, the symbol and the central dish of this celebration.
In fact, the cost of buying the bird and the other classic elements of a dinner for people, is the highest in years, according to the latest survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The average cost of this dinner was $53.000 per person this year, which represents an increase of $04.53 either 18%, over the average of $ 32.31 in 2021.
Only fresh blueberries, they cost less than last year.
In this sense, Latino families marked by a gastronomic diversity add to this feast other elements such as cakes, tamales, pork and beans that place an accent particular to this party.
Of course, high prices are not necessarily a reason to take the seasoning out of the celebration. After the pandemic, the value of a hug, without fear, seems to have much more value. An element that does not measure any economic indicator.
In Upper Manhattan, the Dominican family Feliz Moreno plans to celebrate the same in “their way” by adding to the menu beans, empanaditas, arepas de yuca, pastelón de cassava and potato salad.
“Prices are high, but the whole family is collaborating. The most important thing is the meeting. That we are healthy. That we have vaccines and we can meet without fear. We no longer have that threat of a pandemic like before. And that is what we have to be thankful for”, concludes the islander Martina Feliz, from 80 years, who hopes to resume his party of 20 people in Inwood this year.
Beware of tripledemia
The traditional meetings of these last weeks of the year have forced the New York Health authorities to also put on the table the importance of vaccination at a time characterized by large gatherings.
Since the beginning of October, the New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) has warned about the risk of a tripledemia or general demia, which It is nothing more than the risk that COVID- circulating at the same time this winter) , the flu typical of this season and RSV, a respiratory syncytial virus.
“Obviously we are in a very different moment. We have vaccines, boosters and treatments. That does not mean that in the case of the coronavirus it has completely disappeared. That is why we have insisted that immunizations are safe and available to all New Yorkers”, has been, in summary, the message of the spokespersons for the New York City Department of Health (DOHMH) this season.
Three key dates:
- 1918 – It was a year that a pandemic considerably affected the celebration of Thanksgiving in the country, it treated for the influenza virus that caused the death of 576, Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
1918 – In this year another pandemic shook the most American families and more in Hispanic communities that were the minority most affected by COVID-19, with more of 23, deceased only in the Big Apple, which forced restriction measures that recommended avoiding family gatherings.