Here at Centro Hispano, our families come from many places: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Perú, Puerto Rico, the U.S., and Venezuela. One of our favorite pastimes during lunch is sharing our cultures, whether it’s cooking for everyone or listing all the different ways to say avocado in Spanish (there are so many!). Right before the holiday, we found ourselves discussing Christmas traditions.
Throughout Latin America, Christmas-related celebrations start taking place weeks before the end of December. In Colombia, el Día de las Velitas (Day of the Candles) on December 7th marks the beginning of Christmas celebrations, and sees some families making candles and everyone placing them on windowsills, balconies, porches, sidewalks, streets, parks, and squares in honor of the Virgin Mary. The following week on December 16th, the Posadas Navideñas begin in Mexico with people recalling the story of Mary and Joseph leading up to the birth of Jesus. This religious festival sees streets close and families going door to door singing and seeking “room at the inn” before finding sanctuary and a Christmas celebration at a nearby church or gathering place.
In talking about our experiences, we agreed that the night of December 24th tends to be the big moment for Christmas activities (as opposed to the morning of the 25th in much of the U.S.). Christmas Eve traditions across countries varied, but often involved family, a big dinner, and the opening of gifts at midnight. Esmeralda from Mexico showed us pictures of making a piñata as a family throughout December, filling it with colación (hard Christmas candies), and then breaking it open the night of the 24th. More than 4,000 miles (7,000 + kilometers) away, in Buenos Aires, Melina recounted that in her family, “people begin to arrive around 8pm, then dinner is at 9pm. At midnight, everyone around you lights fireworks, and the sky is filled with them. The kids are distracted and run outside (it’s summertime there), so that’s when the presents arrive. Then, abuela rings the bell and the children open the presents that appeared under the tree. After gifts, it’s music and a dance party at home.” In nearby Colombia, said Dalia, her boyfriend’s family opens presents then puts on Salsa and dances the night away.
For many of us, Christmas comes in the forms of special foods we don’t often eat outside of that time of year. Claudia from Mexico indicated that togetherness in the kitchen is a big part of her family’s holiday traditions, which are about talking and cooking recipes passed down from her mother: pierna de puerco horneada (roasted pork leg) in orange juice and bay leaves, bread, and mashed potatoes. In the new year, another colleague from Mexico went to three different shops in town to find a Rosca de Reyes to share at the office, a delicious pastry served in honor of the Día de Reyes (Epiphany). In this tradition, the bread represents the King’s crown, the dried fruit glistens like jewels, and the plastic baby figurine inside symbolizes Jesus in hiding. Careful grabbing a piece, though, as finding the figurine means you are making the tamales on February 2nd’s Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas)!
Whatever your traditions for the December holidays, we hope that you found a sense of home in them, and that you have returned fulfilled and refreshed.
From Centro’s family to yours, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!