Brasilians don’t celebrate Christmas by opening presents on the morning of the 25th. Instead, it all begins the night of the 24th, when the presents are unwrapped and everyone gets to examine what they have been given. This may seem superficial, but this is what I see when I witness how people in my country celebrate the holy night. As for my last Christmas Eve experience, it was very fun. My friends, family, and I spent the night drinking and enjoying each other’s company. There was laughter, joy, and cheer. We spent the night at my aunt’s apartment, which can normally fit 12 people, but a large exception was made—we fit 20! That night, a present exchange took place while Madonna played on the slideshow projector and people ate cracked nuts.
On Christmas morning, I waited for my family to get up and go to mass since I thought this was a very special part of Christmas for every region of the world, but my family never got up to go. The afternoon of the 25th, we went to my grandma’s house with all the cousins, aunts, and uncles. I can hardly describe the amount of food present! Lord o Lord, that was a present in itself: turkey corn pudding, salad, mashed potatoes spaghetti, a real show of fabulous dishes! All and all, it was a great time, consisting of family, fun, and food.
After Christmas was over, I stopped to think about our Christmas celebration. I was a little confused because I know that the majority of the Brasillians are Catholic. I discovered this through research before coming to the country, but the understanding as confirmed throughout my six-month stay. Still living in Brasil, I believe the Religion is very strongly practiced. In the United States, even if you’re not a practicing Catholic, you go to church on Christmas, so the fact that we didn’t go was a little funny for me.
With no snow on the ground, I’d call my most recent holiday season the opposite of a winter wonderland! But I was in a house with people who loved me, and when I think of Christmas this way, the day was ideal. This year I realized that the holiday season passed by without really much hustle and bustle. For this reason, I never really came to grips with what was happening. Actually, it was five days before Christmas when my sister told me that we were going to put up the Christmas tree. Enthusiasm rushed through her face as all the glorious memories of her past Christmases rushed through her head. She is 12-year-old who knew she would be getting a new cell phone for Christmas, so her excitement is certainly understandable. As we put up the tree that bright Brasilian morning, the aroma of pine trees stoked my memories: the tradition of cutting down the Christmas tree with my parents near our house, and then laying it down in the garage to dry while with anticipation for the next day when we would arrange all the ornaments from my parents’ childhoods as well as Clinton’s and mine.
Every place around the world celebrates Christmas differently, so I was happy to have had the chance to see what Brasilians do for the day and night. But if I say so in my own words, Carnival is the Brasilians’ best Holiday, not Christmas. The reality is that the people don’t have snow or gingerbread or warm hot fireplaces to hang the stockings by. This is the type of Christmas that I know and love, and anything less than that is a little odd, and a bit sad from my perspective. In America, Christmas isn’t Christmas without your family, and the smells and customs that you are accustomed to are the sugar cookies with sprinkles and a dollop of icing that usually tastes better than the cookie itself.
Truthfully, as I write this blog with a few faded memories from the season of ginger bread and snow, it’s hard to remember how the days passed by in Alaska. But all the same, life is Good and the holidays were fine.
