The Chicken Lady – Thanksgiving in Guatemala

11/23/2006 6:06:32 AM

I have always been extremely friendly to The Chicken Lady. She runs a very useful store a block away from where we live called Tienda La Selecta. It is like a mini supermarket and sells both fresh and packaged goods. The major reason people shop at The Chicken Lady, though, is to buy the fresh chickens and eggs. They are simply delicious. You walk in the small entrance and make your way to the back where there is always a line.

A few weeks back I inquired whether I could buy a turkey at The Chicken Lady. She said that she did not deal with turkeys and that I would have to go to San Pedro, the next town over, and find a turkey in the market. But I have learned not to take chances with my meat here. It was The Chicken Lady, some good friend’s turkey that had been fattened on his farm on grain and bugs, or we would be eating chickens for Thanksgiving. All in all, not a bad thing.

Then a few days back I was back talking to The Chicken Lady. I asked her if she was going to be open Thanksgiving Day, for I just had to buy some chickens and did not want to be left high and dry, and have to buy a chicken from some stranger. She informed me that it was her daughter’s birthday but that she would be open in the morning. I then explained that Thanksgiving was an important day in the US and that it was about bringing family and friends together and having a big meal and celebrating the harvest and giving thanks to God for all the good things in our lives. She looked at me with her usual know-it-all look and said, “Why must you have one day for giving thanks? In my family we give thanks to God everyday.” The Chicken Lady – chickens with attitude! Maybe I will bring her a slice of pumpkin pie.

From a Collection of Essays