ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE

December 24, 2005

Migrants give thanks for family at holiday

Feast reconnects them with Mexican culture

Donna Jackel
Staff writer

Victoria and Porfirio Angél watched as Elizabeth Ariola stirred a large pot of dough for the tamales they would feast on later that night.

As the Angéls and their extended family gathered Thursday in their trailer in a migrant camp at Sadoma Farms in Clarkson, there was much to be thankful for.

Although they've had to set aside some of the community traditions practiced back home in Mexico, the tastes and the smells in their kitchen helped them feel connected to their culture.

There was enough work at the farm, trimming cabbages and pruning apple trees, to keep Porfirio in Brockport through the winter instead of having to head to warmer climates for work.

Extended family also had remained up north this Christmas, making the holiday celebration larger than in years past. And little Jaslyn Angél, who was born 10 weeks premature and is now a healthy 3-year-old, for the first time is old enough to fully appreciate the wonders of Christmas.

Had Porfirio, 31, been forced to leave Sadoma to find work, Victoria, 29, would have remained behind so her children could attend local schools. Besides Jaslyn, Victoria has three other children, Ana Paz, 15, Marisol Paz, 13, and Miguel Paz, 10. With them live Ana's son, Edwin, 5 months, and Juana Angél, Porfirio's sister.

Victoria said she too used to go south with the others. "It got harder for me to travel as the children got older. They would miss so much school," she said.

Through the Brockport Migrant Education Project, the children also receive tutoring. The family can access medical care through Child Health Plus.

It is the fourth year the Angéls have lived in the Clarkson migrant camp. During the peak harvest season, which starts in early summer and finishes in November, there are about 75 workers at the farm. This time of year, there are just a few families, according to Victoria.

Many of them will join the Angéls for Christmas Eve. In addition to the time-intensive tamales, the women will make menudo, a dish made with tripe; posole, a thick, hearty soup; fruit punch (made with fresh fruit); and buñuelo, a deep-fried dough, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

If the Angéls were in Mexico for Christmas, they would be participate in Las Posadas, a Mexican tradition commemorating Joseph and Mary's arrival in Bethlehem and their search for a place to sleep. Every evening, from Dec. 12 through Dec. 24, a neighborhood procession goes from one home or "inn" to another until someone takes them in. Children receive cookies, candy and sometimes sparklers and whistles.

"You sing and pray and then (the innkeepers) make a little celebration," said Victoria. "You go every night and as you walk, more people join you."

Thursday night, Porfirio and Elizabeth's husband, Rafael, sat at the kitchen table watching as Elizabeth finished stirring the dough. After half an hour's work, her brow was damp from her effort, but she had succeeded in eliminating the lumps from the mixture.

The two women began spooning the dough onto dried corn husks. Then they spooned on mole, a rich, flavorful sauce that Victoria had prepared earlier. The women then added either chicken or pork and rolled up the husks and placed the tamales in a large pail for steaming.

In El Retiro, the town in southern Mexican where Porfirio is from, he said several people mix four huge tubs of dough and the town of about 300 eats the tamales together.

As Victoria and Elizabeth toiled in the kitchen, the children relaxed in the living room. Ana gave Edwin a bottle, while Marisol helped Jaslyn fill a Santa Claus piñata with candy. Miguel played on the computer. Juana Angél sat on the couch reading Comó el Grinch Robó la Navidad, or as it is called in English, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Sylvia Trujillo Davis of Brockport was also at the Angéls on Thursday night. She used to tutor children through the Brockport Migrant Education project. Now she is a volunteer, friend and advocate for the local migrant community. When the Angéls were married four years ago, she acted as their translator. She frequently visits migrant families in their homes and loves to read to the children.

"I'm of Mexican descent — that's why I have a passion for people who come from Mexico," she said. "A lot of people don't know about the migrant camps. They are good-natured, humble people, just trying to get along like everyone else."

Family is everything to the Angéls.

"We always go out in a big group together to dinner or the mall," said Victoria. The only time they go out alone, she said, is to run errands, but then they always "call the others to see if they need anything."

This Christmas season, Victoria Angél says she is grateful to be with her family, with her children.

When Jaslyn was born in October 2002, she weighed only 1.5 pounds. She was so fragile that her parents couldn't hold her until she was 2 months old.

"We had so many problems with her," Victoria said. "It's good to know she is here with me."