The Last Dance of the Turkey

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I was five years old in 1970. In my hometown in El Salvador, there was a lake in front of our home, called Guija Lake. My family and I would spend a lot of time in the lake swimming and playing. It was my favorite place to be. My family and I had a Christmas Eve tradition. Every year, we would exchange gifts and hug each other at midnight. My grandmother would cook a special turkey dinner for us that night. It was very exciting when we would all give the turkey wine and make him drunk and the turkey would start to dance and run everywhere.

Finally, we would catch the turkey for my grandmother to kill. She would prepare the turkey for us to eat. She used her own special spices, including sesame seeds, different peppers, and tomatoes. The turkey came out even better because it was cooked in a brick oven. It was my favorite dish and it was delicious. This has always been my favorite memory of how I spent Christmas Eve in my childhood years. Every time Christmas Eve comes around, I reminisce about the “dancing turkey,” and it makes me smile.

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Portrait of Marilu MonroyMarilu Monroy was born in 1965 in El Salvador. She writes, “I grew up in a big family with a lot of siblings. I have four brothers, and I am the only girl. My grandmother raised me. I came to live in Brooklyn in 1986, and I have two kids, now adults, and two grandchildren.” Marilu Monroy studies with Noemia Nicolas at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Flatbush Adult Learning Center.