https://www.posetteforever.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1830&p=27454#p27454
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rayera
Sunday, 18 December 2005, 11:23 PM

Christmas traditions
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Well, Posetteforever is a very international comunity, and would be nice and interesting to know about Christmas 

tradition all over the world, not just the country tadition but some family traditions too.

I'm from Argentina, a south America country in the souther emisphere, thus in december we are in full summer, and that 

has a lot to do with our traditions. Our christmas festivity start december 8th, in catholic tradition we conmemorate the 

Inmaculate Conception of Mary, and is a holly day this is the day when we decorate the christmas tree, of course most of 

the trees are artificial, unles one have a garden or the tree won't live too much with 30ºC in the shadow, and for the 

simple reason tha we don't have much Pine trees over here.

Dicember 24 usualy we work until midday and have a long siesta (you'll see why). Like in most places, I think, Christmas 

is a family celebration and here usually is a massive family celebration (maybe heritage of our european ancestors), so 

at about 7:00 pm people start to arrive at the chosen home, as I mentioned here is summer and  if one have a house big 

enough with a nice garden this will be for shure the place for the dinner (or supper?, I don't understand the diference). 

this is a country with a big food tradition and the Christmas food is very important, we start waiting the supper with 

some aperitives, beer (whe have the best of the country here) and some snacks, for the supper we usually have some cold 

food usually lamb, pork, or chiken, mainly roasted and stuffed, with salads of all kind and a good wine; we decorate our 

tables with candels and red gold and green christmas motives, and it may sound strange but usually all have snow on it. 

We start our supper at about 10:00 pm to finish it near midnight. Then we set our Chirstmas sweet table, with nougats, 

chocolates, almond, praline, and all those winter candies (strange isn't it) that allmost nobody eat, but they must be 

there because is a tradition. In my family my brother  make his  famous icecream cake for the desert, and that everybody 

eat. five minutes before midnight we fill our glasses with champagne, or alcoholic cider, (non alcoholic for the kids) 

(cider is our real traditional  drink for this the hollydays here), when the clock gives midnight toast and the kids blows the 

candles of the table and the cake then saying Feliz Navidad (marry christmas) we give a kiss in the cheek to every body 

(woman or men). then we eat the cake or and/or cleriko ( fruits and white wine) and go lounch and see the fireworks, I 

think this is a very latin american tradition, the sky get covered with fireworks and no noice is amaithing, everybody in 

the city colaborate with this show.

This is the time to distract the kids as well, and here is a diferent tradition, not so far ago the presents were brought 

by small Jesus riding a star at midnight, and we invite our childrens to go outside to try to see him playing between the 

fireworks, slowly this tradition is loosing and now allmost every kid tray to see Santa's sleigh (we call him Papa Noel 

because he is the label of a traditional sweet panetone brand called Noel), but in some famylies remain the tradition of 

small Jesus riding a star, and I want that my girl wait for Him too in spite of my wife and my mother that insist with 

Santa's because he is everywhere now, in every shoping mall, in every market, in every toy shop; I have nothing agaist 

him, in fact I think is a very beautiful tradition, but not our, and I don't think it's good to torture a poor old man 

with all that hair and beard in that heavy suit with all those poor animals making him come to our 30ºC summer, I think 

this is a better weather for a small kid in diapers riding a star. I think this is diferent here too, our kids can stay 

awake all far as they can in christmas and the receive their presents at midnight and will be awake and playing with them 

until they resist (usually not much).

After all that we go out to greet some some people we know, and live near and make some phone call to the people that are 

not near (as far as the lines are not saturated). This is the moment for moe beer and sandwiches to invite the people 

that come to greet, and to play with the kids and their new toys, an lounch some more fireworks, and if the there are 

enough people why not to dance. No need to tell that after all this we usually go to bed very late (or early?) in the 

morning, and usually all the city wake up passed midday of dicember 25 to visit by the evening the people that remain not 

to greet to drink some matà¨ with the sweet panetone that nobody wanted to eat the previous night.

This is more ore less, the Christmas tradition here in my country, specially here where I live, of course, in other zones 

of Argentina have others traditions, but this are mainly common all over my country, and all social classes.

(No enought time to correct it, so please don't laught at my english and bad typing)

Merry Christmas!


