Latinos
start Christmas a day early
By Oscar Montealegre
On-line Forty-Niner
Christmas
is celebrated from the metropolis of Los
Angeles to the pueblos in Spain and all
the way across to the “fincas” of Colombia.
Yet each culture celebrates Christmas in
a different manner, traditions and rituals
vary from a family in New York to a family
in Paris. Nevertheless, the core of the
spirit of Christmas remains — family unity
and celebration.
Christmas in a Latin American household
differs from an American one.
“People from South America struggle to assimilate
to American culture, but the thing we do
resist is giving up our style of celebrating
Christmas,” said Gloria Santa Cruz, a recent
American citizen who emigrated from Venezuela.
A Latin Christmas begins at the early evening
on Dec. 24. The whole family gathers at
a selected house and brings food and wrapped
presents. The food is placed on a dinner
table and by the time all the family arrives,
the table resembles a buffet from a favorite
Latin restaurant.
“The kids look forward to the presents on
Christmas, we adults look forward to the
wonderful dinner that we enjoy,” said Juan
Pablo Higuera, a son of Colombian born parents.
“Food is very important for us to our Christmas
celebration, but it is also important in
all our celebrations.”
Food consists of chicken and meat empanadas,
white rice, yellow rice with chicken creole
topped with a traditional Colombian sauce,
Argentinean sausage complimented with potato
pudding, sweet platanos, red beans and fine
meat with chimichurri sauce.
Children are entertained after dinner by
Christmas songs and games that cater to
them with Christmas themes, while adults
gather around the table or in the living
room and enjoy each other’s presence.
“After dinner we are so full that all we
want to do is just sit down and just chit
chat or gossip,” Santa Cruz said. “Usually
the men find this time an appropriate time
to open the wine bottles, and if space permits
we begin dancing until it is time to open
the presents at midnight.”
“Usually after dinner the guys form their
own circles, the women have theirs,” said
Julia Flores, an Argentinian citizen married
to an American with Latino parents said.
“The teenagers and young adults form their
own group and the kids are playing and anxiously
waiting until the clock hits midnight.”
Instead of opening gifts Christmas morning,
Latin Americans generally open them at the
stroke of midnight. Presents are passed
out to each member of the family and when
all the presents have been distributed,
the unwrapping begins.
“I’ve never opened presents on Christmas
morning, always have opened them on midnight,”
Higuera said. “I do not know the origin
of this tradition but if I were to open
them on Christmas morning it would feel
strange for me.”
Traditions that one culture practices during
Christmas may be different and unusual to
the eyes of a different culture but normal
to another. One aspect that makes Christmas
special is that it is celebrated in many
ways, and converting Christmas into one
style of celebration would be mundane.
“It doesn’t matter how you celebrate Christmas
as long as you don’t let go of the essence
and reason for Christmas. That is what is
most important,” Flores said.
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