Noche Buena

“Twas la Noche Buena when all through the casita,
Everyone was stirring, even la bebita;
The nativity scene was set with care,
Waiting for the moment to put Baby Jesus there;
The jovenes were all out dancing at the discoteca,
While the ninos at home hoped for a new muneca;
And mami in her high heels, and I in my flip flops,
Had just knocked back some anis schnapps;
When out in the street arose such a clatter,
But we didn’t even notice, and ate (fruitcake) til we all got fatter.”
                     -- Amanda Rodgers, Peace Corps Peru 17 Youth Development Volunteer

I just celebrated my first Christmas away from my family, and I actually survived.  The days leading up to Christmas were worse than the day itself.  I was being a regular Grinch and absolutely dreading the holiday.  How could I have a good Christmas if I wasn’t spending it with my family?  I believed it wasn’t possible to enjoy even one minute of the holiday.  But, of course, I was wrong- and boy am I glad I was!

After I snapped out of my Grinch mood on Christmas Eve, I actually started enjoying myself.  It was nothing at ALL like Christmas Eve at the Goering household, but it was still a good time.  At some point that evening my host nieces (ages 7, 9, and 14) and I decided to have a girls’ night before we headed to evening Mass.  I painted their nails and drew all kinds of outrageous designs, they helped me pick out my Christmas Eve outfit, and we helped each other with our hair.  Those simple little tasks were enough to put me in a good mood and help me enjoy the holiday.  After we beautified ourselves, we headed to mass.  It was supposed to start at 7:30pm, so of course it didn’t start until about 8:15pm.  Some of the youth enacted the beloved scene of the birth of Jesus, while younger kids performed a typical Peruvian dance for the entire congregation.  The Padre spoke for a few minutes, Communion was given, everyone raced to the front to touch the baby Jesus, and my host family and I headed home to begin preparing our Noche Buena feast. 

Let me explain to you the Peruvian Christmas tradition.  Each family celebrates in their own unique way, but the basis of the tradition is as follows.  Mass: check.   Then the adults head home to prepare the Noche Buena meal, while the kids convene in the plaza and hang out for an hour or so.  The Buena Noche meal consists of hot chocolate, paneton (Peru’s version of fruitcake), and many times a main dish of turkey.  No matter what the main dish is, there is always hot chocolate and paneton.  After eating dinner, the family stays up until midnight to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus.  At the stroke of midnight everyone drowns one another in hugs and meanders over to the nativity scene to kiss the baby Jesus.  After all the excitement, the family heads to bed.  Christmas day is just like another day to Peruvian families, as they celebrated Christmas the night before.

The scene in my house wasn’t much different than the one described above.  While my nieces and I were waiting for the Torres Palacios women (my host mom and 2 host sisters) to prepare the meal, my younger nieces played barber shop on me.  We camped out in the living room with brushes and tons of hair ties, and my poor head endured the tugs of 4 little hands.  Once dinner was (finally) ready, we gathered around the table and all took our seats.  There wasn’t a lot of talking as we were all shoving the food down our throats.  We had, of course, hot chocolate and paneton, turkey, noodles, and a sort of potato salad.  It wasn’t the Christmas feast that I’m used to, but it was still delicious and satisfying.  After dinner we cranked up the Christmas music and sang along and danced our little hearts out until finally the clock struck midnight.  As soon as that second hand hit the 12, we all jumped up and gave everyone giant, warm hugs.  Each person walked to the nativity scene and gave baby Jesus a kiss on the forehead, and at about 12:07am we headed to bed. 

Christmas day began in much the same way as it does for me in the States.  I woke up incredibly early, not wanting to get out of bed, but at the same time wanting nothing more than to start my day.  I packed my bag and ran over to Kyle’s town.  From there we headed into Piura together to spend the day.  You’d have thought that we were both there alone because as soon as we made it to the hostel we both went our separate ways to Skype our families and friends for the next few hours.  I was fortunate enough to be able to see everyone at the Hanna family Christmas celebration and feel like I was a part of the festivities.  They had me projected up on the big screen tv so everyone could see me, and the camera set up in the corner of the room so I could watch the goings-on.  I just sat and watched the people I love, feeling incredibly thankful for every moment.

After Skyping with my family and Kristen’s family, Kyle and I headed to the apartment of a couple other Volunteers to eat some delicious pancakes and play an assortment of different board/card games.  We played games, drank sangria, laughed, told stories, and generally had a good time.  It was nice to be able to spend the day with other Volunteers to keep my mind off the fact that I was so far away from friends and family.

Although this Christmas was nothing like what I’m used to, I survived and actually had a pretty good time.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to have been able to experience another culture’s interpretation of such a huge holiday, and enjoy myself while doing it!  Here’s wishing you all an exciting and fun New Year’s!  Did I mention that I will be spending NYE on the beaches of Mancora in northern Piura?  Hope you all enjoy the cold and snow while I’m working on my tan ;)  

Love and hugs!

“You can’t find something that’s already there.  Happiness exists now.  It’s not something you have to find.”
                    --illuminatedmind.net