Christmas

By American standards, Christmas here on the Coast of Colombia is a low-key affair. Leading up to Christmas – as in the US – the Christmas decorations are brought out of storage or bought and hung both inside and outside of the house. Since toward the end of November a Christmas tree has been decorated the living room of our house as well as a stuffed “bear,” as my host sister calls it. (“It’s a moose” I tell her, to no avail.)

Like many of the houses in the neighborhood, strings of colored lights illuminate our front porch and shine light on pine green garlands, covering the top of the doorway, which have a nice frosted hew to them. A big face of Saint Nick is nearby with “Feliz Navidad” stenciled underneath it. Across town hang strings of colored streamers and even plastic bags as decorations. They can actually serve as neat, cheap decorations.

Here in Colombia Christmas is celebrated on the 24^th. My host mother’s parents invited us over to their house for a large family dinner with all of their other children and their respective families. About 25 of us squeezed into the family room of the house to dine on the usual rice, meat, and potato salad as well as some natilla, a typical custard made for Christmas time.

 After dinner we continued snacking on popcorn, watermelon, and mango slices along with a large quantity of Aguila beer, a staple of any party on the coast.

 The actual 25^th was quiet. I expected some commotion, some kind of raucous cultural event. Instead, silence, other than my host siblings trying out their new bicycles in the dirt street. Whereas Christmas gifts in most US households are hidden under beds and in closets to keep them from curious children, most Christmas gifts in my community are announced well in advance to the neighborhood kids. My host siblings already knew in November what clothes they would get for Christmas and the bikes may as well have been kept on the front porch weeks before the actual day.

A lot of the children in my neighborhood went to church in search of free gifts. The sermon, I was told, included something like this:

Priest: Did you come here today to celebrate our Lord and savior or are you here for the gifts?

Chorus of children: Gifts! Gifts!

Back at home down the road, it was strange to experience such quiet on a day that – to me at least – is electrifying with anticipating, even if you know (as an adult) what is inside the boxes under the tree. The silence lasted until around 8 pm when the giant speakers were pulled out and another street party erupted and we played everyone’s favorite game of “Let’s watch the gringo try to dance!” Despite being in another continent than my family, it was a merry Christmas.