Holiday Series: Christmas

The Advent post was mostly about our family and what we do to prepare for Christmas.  We took a low-key approach to the actual holiday, lounging around in our PJs and Skyping with both families.  We went to a Catholic mass on Christmas Eve (an education in Peruvian time- we went to several churches, one had a service advertised to start at 5:30pm, but at 5:50pm they were still setting up mics and putting out paraments (the cloth that goes on the altar) so we headed over to the church that was supposed to start at 6pm and their service was actually in session).  This post will focus more on the general things we saw as the way that Peruvians celebrate Christmas.  Here is a link to my Facebook album including lots of pictures of an Arequipeñan Christmas.

Decorating: There isn’t any gateway holding Christmas decorating back (since Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here).  The malls and many shops had their Christmas decorations up by Halloween.  It was a little weird to go trick-or-treating (done at stores here rather than homes) with a 3 story Christmas tree as a backdrop to the costumed kids.  Decorations typically include lots of garland and lights.

Sample of Christmas decorations for sale

Another Christmas shop

Many of the lights flash and/or play tinny Christmas music.  Christmas stores pop up all over the place and many have multiple display lights going at the same time.  Experience the magic!  Video of tinny Christmas music lights 

Many people put lights up on the outside of their homes.  Coming from Minnesota, I found it particularly amusing that they were often taped to the stucco or concrete walls with packing tape.

Santa Claus: Santa Claus (called Papa Noel) isn’t a big figure.  Peru is largely a Catholic country, and the emphasis is very much on the nativity story.  Other expats told us that Santa doesn’t bring presents to Peruvian kids and that it is just in the past few years (malls appeared on the scene about 5 years ago) that there has even been a big Santa influx.  We saw Papa Noel in the main square and I think he just said "Hi" to Miss M and didn't ask her what she wanted for Christmas.  The department stores had a lot of Santa merchandise (plates, ornaments, and other decorations made in China).

Miss M and Papa Noel

Nativity Scenes everywhere, including public parks: It was a bit odd for me to see Nativities all around, especially in the public squares.  Every city seemed to have a public nativity and many of them were sponsored by the police or government agencies.  Neighborhoods and businesses have nativities out, as well as your everyday citizens.  Almost without exception, baby Jesus is either covered up with a cloth or not in the manger. He makes his appearance late Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day.

Life sized straw nativity in our city park.
Includes ox, llama, reindeer and flamingo.

Nativity in a gated community near our house.
Note that Jesus is covered up.

Nativity scene at the post office (picture taken after Christmas)

Nativities seem to have a LOT of animals. You can buy many different kinds (the store displays reminded me of Noah's ark in their variety of animals, but there were many more than two of every kind).  I don't recall having pandas, tigers, or turkeys in my stateside nativities.  They sell crumpled style paper so you can make your own snow-capped mountain for your nativity scene.

Lions and tigers and bears...and ducks and seals and turkeys...
and llamas and hens and.......

Nativity display in another community.

Close up of the animal display.

I saw this paper everywhere, but didn't
realize what it was for until I saw this display.

Miss M and I accidentally viewed a police nativity.  They were inviting people in as we walked by.  It was really elaborate- the size of a two car garage in width and about a car's length in depth.  They used Barbie dolls and other small creatures and animated them with movement.  There were dancers from various parts of Peru as well as scenes like bull fighting, chickens pecking and guinea pigs running around on the ground.  They also had a reenactment of the nativity story, starting with Gabriel coming to Mary, then showing Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem, and ending with the wise men traveling and presenting gifts to the Christ child.

Police Nativity setup- left side

Police Nativity setup- right side

I regret to inform you that I apparently have no video or photographs of my favorite part of the scene.  Police GI Joe dolls rappelled from a helicopter to rescue Papa Noel who had gotten stuck in the chimney. (You can see his legs sticking out of the chimney on the right side of the right side picture.)  Perhaps I will be able to capture it next year on a quality camera device now that we have found our camera.  After that, two GI Joe dolls dressed as policemen came down from the ceiling to rescue some bedraggled Barbies and children from a smoking (literally smoking) building, complete with bullets soundtrack.  (Remember, this display was sponsored by the police.)  There was no charge to view the show.  I have heard from more than one person that the police force is corrupt here and I'm wondering if this is part of a public relations effort.  Regardless, it was a fun display to see.

Here is a video clip of the nativity scene (annunciation to visit of the magi).  

Here is a link to my YouTube channel, which has other Christmas clips and videos from the nativity.  I am afraid the video quality on my phone isn't that great- we'll have to try again next year.

Church:  We went to a Catholic mass for Christmas Eve.  The Sunday services we have attended seem to start on time, but that wasn't our experience with Mass.  We couldn't figure out when church services were, so we decided to head downtown where there are several churches in hopes of finding one.  We got there around 4:30pm, and the church closest to the square had a service at 6.  We stopped in at the tourist help desk, who called around and found a 5:30 service.  We got there at about 5:20 and looked around the church (which had an involved nativity up front, complete with running water river and waterfall).  Then we looked at the various icons and ended with the confession booths..... because despite the fact that 5:30 came and went, there was no service starting. People were working on setting up microphones and putting up the paraments (fabric coverings for the altar) after 5:30.  Come 5:50 and no signs of the service starting anytime soon, we decided to head back to the 6pm church. Upon arrival, church was actually in session.  They sang a couple of Christmas songs we knew (What Child is This and the Little Drummer Boy) but they were by soloists.  And the drummer boy doesn't say "pa-rum-pum-pum-pum" in Spanish.  The rest was a bit difficult to follow as it was in Spanish.  The church was packed out, however.

Church #1 (15 minutes after the advertised start time).

A portion of the first church's nativity display.

Food: The traditional Christmas meal includes turkey (way more expensive here than the States- on sale, it’s over $2/lb.), applesauce, champagne, and panetón (a special kind of sweet yeast bread style cake studded with dried fruit).  There are other traditional foods, too…you can buy a meal kit from all the grocery stores where they package up the standard fare and they have cheap versions up to expensive ones.  Panetón is a HUGE thing here….one grocery store swapped out a full aisle to have these cakes and every aisle in the store has the top shelf storage filled to the ceiling with boxes of these cakes.  You can buy a single cake or a box of six.

Two page spread of Paneton.
There were more pages than just these two.

So, in summary....Jesus and the nativity story are really big and are highlighted by everyone, everywhere. Special food abounds, including the ever present panetón.  Santa isn't a big deal (yet...I'm curious to see what it will be like in a generation or so).  And there is the traditional Pervuian focus on fancy decorations and fun party gear.  Oh...and there was a massive fireworks explosion at midnight on Christmas, which we are coming to realize is the standard holiday cheer around these parts.

See other posts in the holiday series:

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Advent

Christmas (that's this post)

New Years

Easter

Mother's Day 

Holiday Series: Advent

Now, you might be expecting the next blog post to be about Christmas, but Advent is a big deal in our family.  (How could it be otherwise, growing up Lutheran?)  I admit, I *may* have a slight addiction to Advent calendars, nativity sets, Christmas decorations, and so on.  We left most everything of ours behind, figuring that Pinterest would help us fill the gap.  And, boy, did it ever.  Here are my board links in case you want to peruse some awesome ideas.  Christmas Ideas and Winter Ideas  We didn't get to all of them this year.

I mentioned in my post on Thanksgiving that the lack of fall weather made it hard for me to get into the holiday spirit.  I am happy to say that was NOT the case for Christmas.  I didn't realize until living through it here that so much of the Christmas preparation is tied up in activities outside of the weather that it wasn't actually a big deal to be existing without snow.  (Sorry for all of you stuck in the deep freeze of the north; I'm hoping that by missing two winters we're able to come back to something milder.  Way to take one for the team.)

Here are some of the Advent traditions in our home:

Advent Calendar(s):  Back home, we have 3-4 Advent calendars.  This sweet little magnetic scene, a felt pocket calendar that I put activity cards in, a little 24 piece nativity scene I was given by my in-laws identical to one from my childhood, and sometimes a chocolate calendar.  All of these remained in Minnesota.  Down here I created an Advent calendar out of toilet paper tubes, inspired by a picture on Pinterest but made uniquely my own.

By mid-Dec I had added a little printable to the green space.

One of our activities- Christmas cupcakes downtown

I used it to replicate the activity advent calendar we do at home.  I highly recommend an activity advent calendar as it is completely customizable and a good way to build in family together time and memories.  I take time in November to plan out daily activities based on our schedule.  A previously scheduled activity becomes the activity for that calendar day and many of them are simple, like "listen to Christmas music" or "color a Christmas picture."  I plug in things we do every year like Christmas parties and concerts, family gatherings, and cookie baking.  And I have reminders to water the tree, because I'm an expert at forgetting that one.  Feel free to modify the document I created for your own purposes.  MN version ~  Peru version It's created to work with Avery labels (5160 or 30 per page).  I stick the labels on old business cards so I can reuse them year after year and it's worked out great the past several years.  I have more cards than days so I can choose what I want to do and not be boxed into a corner. I write down what I have planned on my calendar and feel no shame about changing things if something in our lives changes.  Having it on my calendar makes it a lot easier to know what is coming up or what days to trade around than poking around in the calendar to figure out what's coming up.  I made the TP calendar go from Dec 1 through Jan 6 and we'll do that again next year but I won't continue that when we go back home.  That calendar only goes through Dec 25 and I found that my desire to keep doing daily activities through the 12 days of Christmas plummeted off a cliff.  I still like listening to Christmas music and eating leftover Christmas goodies, but I don't want to have to do an activity daily after Christmas day.  New this year, we did an electronic Advent calendar from Jacquie Lawson.  What fun!  This one was a gift from some dear friends and we'll definitely be doing it again next year.  Let me know if you want to be part of a buying group next year (there are significant discounts for buying 10 or more, just $2 per calendar this year).  This was one of Miss M's favorite daily activities.  The countdown aspect of Advent calendars is great for the kids and I have enjoyed the togetherness that the activities portion can bring to the family.  It's been fun to pause and take in some of the wonder of the season.

BTW, I recommend an Advent calendar for everyone.  I've done it every year, regardless of my family status and I enjoyed it every year.

Cookie decorating.

One of the activities we do every year.

Advent wreath and devotions: Taken from my youth, the Advent wreath is a standard part of the decor. Thankfully, I'm married to a handyman.  He took some wood pieces I got from a garage sale and fashioned a sturdy cross-shaped Advent wreath.  Perfectly serviceable for our two year stint.

Advent wreath!  3 of 4 candles still had their gold strips by the end.

I bought the candles at a candle shop downtown that came complete with large dog.  I mean, really large.

The candle shop dog.

I selected the taper candles with the fancy spiral sides and gold metallic strip for Fancy Miss M.  I did not, however, realize that it was just sort of glued on at both ends and by the end of the season, one candle had completely lost its gold strip and another was hanging by a thread.  Live and learn.  We have a variety of Advent devotion options.  My goal with kids is to give them a taste of the Biblical background of the story (starting with Adam and Eve- why in the world do we need a Savior anyway) and going through the actual Nativity story (including dedication in the temple and the visit of the Magi, which probably occurred sometime 1-2 years after Jesus was born.)  This year we looked to Pinterest and found a nice Advent reading plan based on the Jesus Storybook Bible.

Bonus review: I really like the Jesus Storybook Bible, the main theme is that Jesus is the thread that ties the whole Bible together and "every story whispers his name."  The book is very fun to read and I find myself regularly becoming emotional when I read the stories to the girls.  The illustrations are beautiful as well.  The downside is that not everything is exactly on when it comes to Biblical accuracy (some things are embellishments which don't really bother me, like saying Jesus winked at the little boy who had his lunch expanded to feed the 5000 but others are more facts that are off, like saying that Jacob worked another 7 years for Rachel and married her after 14 years when it was actually one week after Leah's wedding and then he worked the 7 years).  I just modify what I am reading based on what I know and I still really like the book.

Decorating: We decorate the day after Thanksgiving in our house.  Our decoration amount was down this year, but still quite serviceable.  We put up a little Christmas tree (just a little taller than little A) with a few ornaments.  Then we used craft days from the Activity Advent Calendar to make some more ornaments.  I made a felt garland out of red and white felt that was very easy to make and looked festive.  We put a garland on the stairs and hung stockings for the girls there since we don't have a fireplace here.

Our little tree.

The girls rearranged the tree constantly!

I also found some fun printables on Pinterest and used them to decorate, including some ornaments with memory verses.  We didn't get around to memorizing them this year...but maybe next year.  They looked festive!

And, I found some felt decorations on sale for 90% off after Christmas which I plan to bring home to use for our master bedroom (maybe when we get home Dave and I will actually be able to agree on a mantle to buy for our fireplace).

Stockings:  We do stockings on St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) and family gifts on Epiphany (Jan. 6).  So, stockings happen at the start of Advent.

A chocolate nativity!  Nothing says Advent like eating the holy family. :)

Dressing up in big sis' headband and looking at the nativity scene that came in the stockings.

So, that was Advent!  Our month or so of preparing for Christmas through reading Bible stories, spending family time together, and making the time special with activities and food.


See other posts in the holiday series:

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Advent (that's this post)

Christmas

New Years

Easter

Mother's Day 

Inside of the Christmas card

Christmas Card I made at Shutterfly

Sparkle Joy Holiday Card

Shop hundreds of holiday photo cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I love this picture of Miss M at a Civil War outing...the joy on her face and how much fun she was having makes for a great shot. I used it for a Christmas card that I got for free from Shutterfly (thanks, coupon code!) and also made a book and some other Christmas gifts there. I thought if you clicked on the picture, you can see the inside of the card, too.... but that didn't work for this sleep deprived mom, so I made a picture of the inside and you can see that, too (in a separate post because I just can't figure out how to make the photos not overlap...) Merry Christmas and to all a good night!