Worldly Santa
by Maryevelyn Jones
Fayetteville Free Weekly
December 18, 2003
Around the world people celebrate Christmas in different ways. A few people living in Fayetteville who are from different countries talked about the differences between Christmas in Arkansas and in their country. Father Christmas comes in some surprising forms.
Shakia Jordan from Australia: A Christmas “down under” is a lot like an American Christmas, although there is a distinct Aussie twist. In Wagga Wagga, a little city south of Sidney, Christmas Eve is a time of merry drinking and reconnecting with old friends. The main street is closed off to cars so that patrons of the pubs can spill into the streets. Everyone brings an “esky” full of their favorite beverages and celebrate well into Christmas morning. Before one goes to bed however, they don’t forget to leave a can of beer and some biscuits out for Santa. The Australian summer calls for beer instead of milk! Christmas day is celebrated with the traditional Christmas food and is usually accompanied by a swim. The day after Christmas is Boxing Day, a public holiday borrowed from the British that is a day spent relaxing and recovering from the festivities of the previous days.
Yasmin Sierra from Hondurus: According to Yasmin, people in Honduras often buy new clothes to wear during Christmas. Santa Claus in Hondurs dresses and acts just like he does in the U.S., but he comes on the night of Dec. 23. On Dec. 24 children are allowed to stay up until midnight, because that is when presents are passed out. While they wait for midnight, the adults talk and drink and the children burn firecrackers. Sometimes families watch the Pope’s mass on T.V. live from Italy. Yasmin said some families eat Christmas dinner before midnight while other families wait until after the presents are opened. The meal in Honduras usually is a meat dish with rice but without cranberry sauce or dressing and there is a holiday dessert called Torrejas, a bread-like dessert made from egg whites and a special type of sugar only available during the holiday season.
Denise Brooks from the Democratic Republic of Congo: Denise says Christmas is very different in the city of Kinshasa, Congo compared to here in Arkansas. Most families go to the night church service. Even non-believers do their best to get to church on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus is not part of the tradition in Kinshasa. A few parents who can afford it go to the Meridian Hotel downtown and pay $200 U.S. per child to see Santa Claus. Denise says she does not expect gifts and Christmas, because in Kinshasa Christmas is about getting together with family and friends to share a big meal. The dishes served are just every day meals like a meat dish and cassava leaves. Some families buy new clothes for their kids, but Denise’s mom always invites very poor people from a nearby neighborhood over for dinner. Denise said that all over Africa, Christmas gifts consist of things already owned that are shared like hand-me-down clothing or cups of rice. They are given to those who don’t have as much. It is not customary to but new things.
Kofi Addo and Esi Andoh from The Republic of Ghana: Kofi and Esi said that Christmas in Ghana mimics the scene of a carnival in Brazil. Most Ghanaians see Christmas as the day on which Christ was born. On Christmas Eve cities become crowded with people doing some last minute shopping for food and drinks before the start of the holiday season. Families decorate their homes in preparation for the big day, Dec. 25. Like in Congo, only a few fortunate kids are taken to the supermarkets to see Father Christmas in his red suit.
Dec. 25 is a public holiday. There is Joy in the air as one can tell by the loud music blaring over speakers in bars and some homes. Kids dress up in colorful costumes with matching facemasks and go from door to door dancing for rewards of candy or money. Some of the kids perform these dances on stilts with drumbeats provided by drummers who tag along.
Early Christmas morning is the time that most churches are filled with people dressed in white who listen to Christmas carols and the story of Christ’s birth. After church, the Ghanaian people pay visits to their friends and families in their church clothes to wish them a happy new year. Every home looks like a party house with music, decorations, and food. Gifts such as used clothing or money are usually given to family members and friends by those who have the means. Kids enjoy the good food, toys, balloons, and light fireworks. The merry-making continues throughout the day until everyone becomes exhausted. As in Australia, the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, is another holiday. Ghanaians use the day to clean up the mess from Christmas day and get some rest before the next working day.
Nenad Porobic from former Yugoslavia: In my obsolete country, Christmas was, simply forbidden. Djeda Mraz (Grandpa Snow) still had a few days to prepare for his visits. He would cross our thresholds or slide down our chimneys saturated with animal fat. The first of January signaled another year during which the most prized possession an individual could have was the Communist Party Membership Card. It took efforts to keep the card (along with the unsmiling holder’s stare), and one of them was active obliteration of old family traditions, and active participation in “new ones.” We swore to our leaders not to fall weakly under the spell of anything opiatically supernatural, even if it is a good dinner. All of my memories stem from the time before the civilized started tearing down certain walls, and uncivilized responded by building them. We were obedient to the end. Destructive passions have led us to our own extinction.
Raja Khoury and Gaby Jabbour from Lebanon: In Lebanon, 30-40% of the population is Christian. Raja comes from a Greek Orthodox village. In his village there is a group of Christian scouts who get together and organize a gift giving event. Raja’s parents would secretly give the children’s gifts to the scouts. Then when families were all together at dinnertime Papa Noel goes around the village in a car or pickup truck between 7-9 p.m. on Dec. 24 knocking on doors and hand delivering presents to children. Raja said it does not matter if Papa Noel is skinny or fat as long as he wears the red suit, has a white beard, and looks exotic. Raja said that in Lebanon family togetherness is far more important than gift giving.
Gaby comes from a Catholic family in Beirut. He said that the week before Christmas in Beirut many people do charity work for places like a nursing home or orphanage. On Dec. 24, Gaby said his family would usually all gather at one of his grandparents’ homes and start having appetizers around 8 p.m. His parents would have called a toy store to make an appointment with Papa Noel a month in advance. They would tell Gaby that Papa Noel would be at his grandparents’ house at 11:30 p.m. After a turkey dinner, a white chocolate dessert always made it a white Christmas. Papa Noel would arrive after dinner and hand out small gifts to children and then leave, so the family could go to church. It was important to attend church to be blessed before opening any gifts. They often left the church service early to go home and open gifts. After the gifts were open the party and schmoozing really began. During Christmas in Beirut everybody drinks. Even children are allowed to have a little wine over ice. When children go to sleep Papa Noel re-visits. This second visit is more like a U.S. Christmas with a rooftop landing and Santa in a sleigh pulled by reindeer (excluding Rudolph). During the second visit Papa Noel leaves bigger gifts for children to open when they wake up on Dec. 25. Since Gaby’s home did not have a fireplace, Papa Noel came through the vent, so Gaby usually left a glass of water by the vent for Papa Noel.
Merry Christmas!
Worldly Santa
by Maryevelyn Jones
Fayetteville Free Weekly
December 18, 2003