Christmas in Peru

Growing up in Peru I never thought that having a Santa Claus that rides a sleigh pulled by reindeers was strange until I came to Canada and was asked whether we even had snow in Peru when I told people we also had Santa Claus.  Well, yes, we have snow in the Andes but not in Lima, which is by the ocean. I guess I never thought about the logistics of how it was that the gifts arrived all the way from the North Pole to my chimney without poor Santa melting to death.

The Peruvian version of Christmas, at least the one celebrated in Lima, has some resemblances to that celebrated in North America. The preparations which start at least a month before the event. Malls and streets are decorated with lights and evergreens and sometimes even fake snow. People decorate their homes with large evergreen trees and nativity scenes. Carols are playing everywhere and every commercial on the TV and radio takes advantage of this season to promote the spending of money, which drives the mad shopping frenzies. The main difference, of course, is that people are walking around in shorts and t-shirts when doing their Christmas shopping. Christmas also marks the beginning of the summer season and the kids’ holidays so it is twice the excitement knowing that at the other end of Christmas lay 3 months of pure fun at the beach.

On the Eve of the 24^th most people have a big family meal (or two, if you have the misfortune of having to manage both families on the same night). Traditionally you would go to midnight mass, called “misa de gallo”. Everyone then went home for a big meal that was followed by the opening of presents. Christmas usually ended around 3am, which most families finally accepted as unnecessary ten or twenty years ago. Most families now will go to an earlier mass around 8 or 9pm and then have a late dinner followed by a gift exchange. Sometime in the night, usually around midnight and among greetings of “Feliz Navidad”, kids and parents will go outside and start lighting firecrackers or “fuegos artificiales”. Firecrackers are not illegal in Peru and one has easy access to some pretty serious recreational explosives, including ones that sound chillingly like bombs, the “rata blanca” or white rat. Around the time when terrorism was at its peak this was not a most welcome sound but thankfully those days have passed.

The core of the Christmas meal is most usually made up of turkey, ham, apple sauce or mashed potatoes and rice. For dessert you usually have “panetón” and hot chocolate, an Italian tradition that was brought to Peru many years ago. Panetón is a sweet bread made with candied fruits and raisins. Most families will eat it through the month of December, since it’s only available at this time of the year. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a slice of panetón; in fact, many people give the service staff in their homes a panetón along with a little envelope with their bonus at this time of year to make sure that no one goes without this tradition.

On the 25^th the festivities continue and some families will celebrate with the other side of the relatives with a turkey lunch or yet another turkey dinner. Then on the 26^th, when North Americans are busy hitting the stores for Boxing Day deals, Peruvians are hitting the road to get to their beach homes and settle there for the length of the summer. A much better way to relax after the hectic Christmas days, I would say.

This article was posted by Veronica Montero

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