Christmas in Guatemala

This wasn´t my first Christmas away from family, and in all likelihood it won’t be my last. This was, however, my first Christmas in Guatemala and with that came a number of new traditions. The first of these was the “Posada”. The word Posada roughly means rest. It is a sort of reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and not finding room at the inn. The tradition has evolved into a nightly pilgrimage to a different family´s house the 10-days leading up to Christmas. There is a procession with two children dressed as Mary and Joseph and statues of Mary and Joseph. Lots of candles. When the procession arrives at the house a series of responsorials are sung. Alter a while the crowd is let into the house (or courtyard). Some prayers are said and it ends with tamalitos and tea or coffee. It is a very simple and reflective way to prepare for Christmas. The days leading up to Christmas my host family was busy preparing a Nativity set. This included cutting out a cloth backdrop and Stars, buying different types colored sawdust, getting out the little play animals. Christmas eve the ladies in the house busied themselves making Tamales. At about 10 pm those of us who were not directly evolved in Tamale making went to mass. A simple celebration, and surprisingly no overwhelmed with people like Churches in the U.S. on Christmas (and Easter). At midnight, about the time mass was ending, people started lighting off fireworks in the streets. When we made our way back to the house the family respectfully placed the baby Jesus in the manger and then said a series of prayers ending with a decate of the rosary. After that tamales, bread, fruit punch, candy, and nuts were in order. There were only a few gifts exchanged, none amongst the family proper and we talked until a bit alter two. Christmas day was simple as well. We ate a late breakfast followed by a late, although large, lunch. We capped the day off watching the movie Elf in Spanish (my gift to them). Although one would always prefer to be with their own family during the holidays, this was a joyous Christmas with my Guatemalan family.