Across the southern border
AS WE celebrate our traditional Guyanese Christmas, our giant neighbour is also in full celebration mode. I chatted with two beautiful Brazilian ladies, and they shared with me what is in fact a truly colourful and amazing tradition. Doriha Carter and Karolina Silva remembered their Christmases in Brazil.
Two months before Christmas, all stores and supermarkets are decorated and lighted up. Shopping begins early, and things are stored. As the holiday approaches, shopping intensifies.  On Christmas Eve, there is the traditional family celebration. A large table is set, and all the different foods are laid out. The entire family sits down and enjoys a delicious meal together. After eating, there are games, caroling, and plenty of fireworks. Everyone stays up as long as they like to really enjoy this night. Christmas Day is a very quiet day in Brazil. Very few cars travel the roads. Everyone is home with their family.
Food for this season is varied, plenty and delicious. Pantone (a special sweetbread) is a must on the tables at Christmas. Churrasco (roasted or baked turkey, chicken or beef) is a favourite. There is also sweet-rice with raisins, salpicao (a dish made of chicken, apple, raisins and tiny potato chips). None of this would mean much without wine.
Dombosco and Gallito wines are among the top beverages used during this season. Sponge cakes are baked, Champanhe (a chocolate, Ice cream, and biscuit delight), Vatapa (a dish with shrimp, bread, Dende oil, tomatoes, and seasoning) is served.
Feijoada (sausage/pork/beef and black beans), fruit salad, fruit punch, and Caipirinha (made from #51 alcohol, banana or lime, passion fruit or orange) are also prepared. Traditional dishes such as Perlin de Porco (pork leg seasoned and baked), Farofa Compassa (white farine), raisins, Calabrasa (pork or chicken sausage), Bacalhou (Arapaima fish) and Muse (ice cream) are other dishes eaten at this big dinner.
Lazanha (made from cheese, ham, pasta, beef, chicken and white and red sauce), Pura de Batata (mashed potato with eggs, mayonnaise and seasoning), Pave (chocolate, milk, biscuit, condensed milk and jello) add to this culinary delight. There is also Crème de Leite (milk cream), Torta de Sonho de Valsa (chocolate, garoto, condensed milk, milk cream, and biscuit), Coxinha (cassava or flour rolls with chicken or beef strips inside), Risoto (rice, cream, seasoning-somewhat like a creamy cook-up rice). There are many, many more dishes to be enjoyed during this season.
Local parks are lit up and decorated with Santa, the reindeers and the Nativity Scene. Children get to go on rides, and there is fun galore. Cars are also decorated, and are driven around to add spice to an already colourful and delectable celebration.
During the season leading up to Christmas, stores sell large amounts of red and white clothing. After Christmas,  and in preparation for New Years, shops sell enormous quantities of white clothes. New Year’s Night is a night for church, where  the  Nativity Drama is featured. After church, everyone heads for the parties.
In Brazil, everyone buys and wears new clothing, shoes, underwear,  etc.  White is the traditional colour worn, and as the countdown to New Year begins, everyone stands on their left foot and raises the right. At 12a.m. sharp, there is a wave of joy: Everyone is jumping, hugging and passing on New year’s greetings. Wines of many colours, which had been already bought, are splashed and sprayed on everyone nearby, creating a colourful spectacle.
There is also a spectacular display of fireworks that dazzles the eye as the sky comes alive. This is how many people in Brazil welcome the New Year. New Years Day is the day for everyone to visit the beaches, creeks and pools. Schools are on holiday for the period,  First of December to end of January. Children are only given two weeks holiday during August. This means that Christmas is a long, delightful and memorable period for everyone. That’s how you celebrate!

In the Dominican Republic…
Where Noche Buena is a big night
IN THE Dominican Republic, the celebration is centered on the birth of Christ. Santa is absent for most people. In this season, the emphasis is bringing the family together. There is plenty of excitement and preparation leading up to Christmas.
Noche Buena is Christmas Eve. This is a very big celebration here. That night, there is a big family dinner. During the day, shopping for all necessary items is done. Then the cooking and preparation begin in earnest.
Telera is a special bread that must be on every table. It is baked only for Christmas, and is a great tradition. The bread is sliced up and used at dinner and other meals. Turkey, pork, or chicken salad, Punche Vino (a special wine), and Dulce de Navidad (sweets) are all included. Boiled breadfruit, prunes, raisins, levenes (a mixture of yams and potatoes), apples, grapes and music complete this celebration. Even non-drinkers take a sip on this day.
On Noche Buena, people work until dinnertime. Christmas Night sees everyone in church; even the backsliders. As per tradition, everyone wears new clothes. After the church services, people head for the parties.
There is no celebration on Boxing Day. On this day, everyone goes back to work. Like Noche Buena, Old Years Day is also celebrated in a big way. First, the churches are filled, and after mass, parties are crowded. Everyone gets ready to welcome the New Year in the traditional way. The big celebration for children is called Dia de los Reyes. This is held on the fifth of January, and stores remain open all night. Many gifts are bought and hidden from curious little eyes.
All children in the Dominican Republic write to the Three Kings (Three Wise Men), asking for toys and other Christmas gifts. It is traditional for the children to do the following:-
•    Leave grass for the camel
•    Leave candy
•    Leave a glass of water
This would please the Wise Men no end, and a nice gift would be left. The three items at reference are placed under the child’s bed, and the kids go to sleep. In the morning when they awake, the three items have vanished and are replaced by gifts. For those unfortunate to get nothing, tradition is still on their side. La Vieja Belen (Old Lady) would come by in a few days and leave a toy. There is plenty of music and the universal Christmas Tree. In the Dominican Republic, a traditional Christmas decoration is Red or White Poinsettias Flowers. After the fifth of January, all decorations, lights and Christmas Trees are removed and stored for the next year. This marks the official end of this season.
During the festive season, many nationals return home, and hundreds of tourists flock to the island. Airports like Las America become a bustling hub. Along the roadsides, many vendors have Lechon Asedo (Pork) for sale. An entire pig is placed on a spit, seasoned, and then roasted slowly over a fire. This dish is extremely popular, both with foreigners and nationals. The Christmas season brings together family members who may live apart. It’s the time when they enjoy each other and remember those who have died. They focus on the birth of Jesus Our Lord. May we all make Him the reason for our Christmas celebration.
FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Down Mexico Way
CHRISTMAS festivities in Mexico begin with Las Posadas – nine consecutive days of candlelight processions and lively parties, starting December 16.
In villages and urban neighbourhoods throughout Mexico, youngsters gather each afternoon to re-enact the Holy Family’s quest for lodging in Bethlehem. The procession is headed by a diminutive Virgen María (Virgin Mary), often perched on a live burro (donkey) led by an equally tiny San José (Joseph). They are followed by other children portraying angels, the Santos Reyes (Three Kings), and a host of pastores y pastoras (shepherds and shepherdesses), all usually decked out in colourful handmade costumes, and carrying brightly decorated báculos (walking staffs) or faroles (paper lanterns).
The parade of Santos Peregrinos (Holy Pilgrims) stops at a designated house to sing a traditional litany by which the Holy Family requests shelter for the night, and those waiting behind the closed door turn them away. They proceed to a second home where the scene is repeated. At the third stop, the pilgrims are told that while there is no room in the posada (inn), they are welcome to take refuge in the stable. The doors are flung open, and all are invited to enter.
This is an active way of teaching children the story of the Nativity, but the chief attraction is the merrymaking that follows, above all, the chance to engage in the ruthless smashing of the piñata, and a mad scramble for the shower of fruits, sugarcane, peanuts and candies released from within.
Images saved in ‘Mexican Christmas’ folder in Graphics

Las Pastorelas
Pastorelas (Shepherds Plays) are staged throughout the holiday season by both amateur and professional groups. These traditional, often improvised, theatrical presentations date back to Mexico’s Colonial past when Roman Catholic missionaries wooed converts and taught doctrine through dramatizations of Biblical stories.
The light, humour-filled pastorelas tell of the shepherds’ adoration of the Christ Child. First they are visited in the fields by an angel, who announces the Holy Birth. As the shepherds attempt to follow the great star leading them to Bethlehem, they are plagued by a series of evils and misadventures provoked by the Devil. But in the proverbial all’s-well-that-ends-well finale, good triumphs over evil, and the shepherds reach their intended destination.

Nativity scenes (El Nacimiento)
In most Mexican homes, the principal holiday adornment is el Nacimiento (the Nativity scene). The focal point, naturally, is a stable where clay or plaster figurines of the Holy Family are sheltered. The scene may be further populated by an angel, Los Reyes Magos (the Magi), the ox and the ass, shepherds and their flocks, and assorted other people and livestock. It is not unusual to also find the forces of evil represented by a serpent and a grotesque Lucifer lurking in the shadows. The figures may be simply positioned in a bed of heno (Spanish moss), or scattered throughout an elaborate landscape.
Nowadays, a decorated Christmas Tree may be incorporated in the Nacimiento, or set up elsewhere in the home. As purchase of a natural pine represents a luxury commodity to most Mexican families, the typical arbolito (little tree) is often an artificial one, a bare branch cut from a copal tree (Bursera microphylla) or some type of shrub collected from the countryside.

Christmas Eve (Noche Buena)
Holiday festivities culminate on Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) with the celebration of a late-night Misa de Gallo (Rooster’s Mass). Afterwards, families head home for a traditional Christmas supper, which may feature a simple fare of homemade tamales and atole (corn gruel) or other regional dishes. A more exotic feast might include bacalao a la vizcaína (Biscayan cod) and revoltijo de romeritos (wild greens in mole sauce). Roast turkey, ham or suckling pig are other popular menu items for those who can afford it. Ponche (a hot fruit punch), sidra (sparkling cider) or other spirits are served for the holiday brindis (toast).
The evening is rounded out with the opening of gifts and, for the children, piñatas and luces de Belen (sparklers). As these happy family gatherings generally last into the wee hours, December 25th is set aside as a day to rest and enjoy that universal holiday bonus — el recalentado (leftovers).

The Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos)
The Christmas season continues unabated in Mexico through Epiphany, which is called Día de los Reyes (Three-Kings Day). Echoing the arrival in Bethlehem of the Three Wise Men bearing gifts for the Baby Jesus, children throughout Mexico anxiously await waking up January 6 to find toys and gifts left by the Reyes Magos (Magi). In some regions, it is customary to leave out shoes where treasures may be deposited by the visiting Wise Men.
A special treat served on this day is the Rosca de Reyes — crown-shaped sweetbread decorated with jewel-like candied fruits. Tiny figures of babies are hidden in the dough before baking. There is much excitement as each participant cuts his or her own slice, for whoever gets a piece containing a baby is obliged to host another party on or before Candlemas, February 2, when Mexico’s holiday season finally comes to an end.

El Niño Dios (The Holy Child)
Santa Claus and the clatter of reindeer hooves on the roof do not generally figure in the scheme of Navidad. A Mexican youngster’s holiday wishlist is directed instead to el Niño Dios (the Holy Child) for Christmas Eve and the Reyes Magos (Magi) for Three Kings Day.

Poinsettias, La Flor de Noche Buena
Its Latin name is Euphorbia Pulcherrima. Its Mexican monikers include the ancient Nahuatl term, Cuitlaxochitl (star flower), along with Catarina (Catherine), Flor de Pastor (Shepherd’s Flower) and, most commonly, Flor de Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Flower).
In the English-speaking world, this illustrious holiday bloom is called the Poinsettia, named after Dr. Joel R. Poinsett, a U.S. diplomat who served as Minister to Mexico in the 1820s. Like many newcomers to Mexico, he was no doubt enthralled by the sight of the gargantuan shrubs covered in mid-winter with brilliant vermillion blossoms. After experimenting with various methods of propagation, he returned home to Charleston, South Carolina with enough cuttings to begin the cultivation of these stunning plants in northern climes.
The bright petals of the poinsettia are not really flowers, but bracts (or leaves) that surround the true blossom, a rather inconspicuous cluster of yellow florets. The bracts may be solid creamy white, salmon pink or scarlet, variegated or double blooms.
Among pre-Hispanic tribes of ancient Mexico, the Cuitlaxochitl was more than just a pretty face. The blood-red bracts were often placed on the chests of those suffering afflictions of the heart to help stimulate circulation. They were sometimes crushed to a pulp to be used as a poultice for the treatment of skin infections.
A note of good cheer to those more inclined to be couch potatoes than gardeners: Modern-day Mexicans enjoy still another form of Noche Buena– a rich, dark, bock-like beer distributed only during the holiday season.

Los Santos Inocentes
December 28, Day of the Holy Innocents, is a religious commemoration of King Herod’s ordering the slaughter of all male infants in his kingdom, intended to include the Christ Child. In Mexico, it is celebrated as a day akin to April Fool’s, an occasion for jokes and pranks. The usual tactic is to approach a friend and ask to borrow cash or some object of value. If fooled by the ploy, the victim may be given a candy or silly gift in return, along with much joking and name calling. So beware! Or you may find yourself titled Fool Saint for a day! (Information provided by the Mexican Embassy and compiled by Michelle Gonsalves)

…in the Gambia 
Masquerade in the Gambia
CHRISTMAS in The Gambia is very special, says Ndey Maget Sugu. “It is celebrated by both Muslims and Christians. In fact, most of the festivities are done by young Muslim boys and girls.
“The day is usually announced by the sound of drums and singing, and masqueraders performing dances to the delight of the people. There is the ‘agugu’ masquerade that everybody loves. It dresses in a glittering gown with white gloves, and on its face is the most beautiful visage that never fails to catch your attention.
“The ‘agugu’ marches through the streets and stops at intervals to collect money and sweets that people throw at it, and in turn, it dances. Far across the distance, another group of people are coming. It’s another masquerade — but this time it’s not the ‘agugu’, it is the ‘hunting’.
“In contrast to the beauty and elegance of the ‘agugu’, the ‘hunting’ is very fierce-looking. It is dressed in coconut leaves, and covered in lion hides and has a frightening lion’s head. Children run frightened to their parents, but the sparkle in their eyes shows that they are really enjoying themselves.
“The dances continue, and the groups in their colourful uniformed attires sing and beat the drums. Traffic comes to a standstill, and drivers give out money so they can be allowed to pass.
“All too soon, the day ends, and people eagerly await the night, when melodious voices signal a new arrival. Gliding through the night is the most enchanting and beautiful thing — resting on four high legs, this boat-shaped structure measures approximately four metres in height and roughly two metres wide.
“It is decorated with white paper, and looks more like a palace than anything else. Balloons of all colours adorn it, and tens of candles are lit inside, giving it a dreamy feature. It is the Christmas ‘faanal’. Bearers will take turns holding it and singing and dancing alongside it.
“Gifts and monies are given, and the ‘faanal’ continues its journey as far as it can go.
Christmas in The Gambia is truly unique.”

… Sierra Leone
Going to church is an important part of many African Christmases
HE WORKS in Freetown, says Foday Sidi Kajue, but usually spends his Christmas holidays in his native Mano Junction, in the Kenema District of eastern Sierra Leone.
“Every member in the community, as long as they are working or married,” Foday says, “should contribute the sum of 20,000 leones (about $6) before 15 December to be used to buy food, drinks and hire the musical set that will entertain everyone.”
There are both Christians and Muslims living in the area, he says, but like the length and breadth of Sierra Leone, there is religious tolerance — so as Christians go to Church on Christmas Day, some of their brother Muslims will join them in their worship, while others stay around to prepare food and drink.
“After service from the Catholic Mission Church, which is 200m from the village, and close to the football field and the graveyard, everyone will go home to change and eat.
“Then films will be shown all over the township — especially Nigerian and Ghanaian movies — while the youths prepare for the football match that will commence between Mano Junction and nearby Largo.
“During this match, you will see a lot of old and new friends from the surrounding villages. After the match, we will hear a loud sound of music from the village meeting place — known as the ‘court barray’ – indicating to people that the set will be good.
“After the 1900 and 2000 prayers of the Muslim followers, everybody will move towards the barray in all types of clothes with their loved ones, and buy their tickets at the cost of 1,000 leones to enter the hall.
“Some will be there till the next morning. The next day — Boxing Day — is know for continuing eating, sleeping and gossip about how Mr. X and Miss Y were dancing and the type of music they were dancing to.”

… Cameroon
Christmas: A time for children’s treats
FULL WITH excitement, the family dashes from one corner of the house to the other, says Eric Kaba Tah, writing all the way from Yaoundé, in Cameroon.
A church service is set for 19:00h, he says, and everyone is as active as if the day had just started.
“Far from that, had it been a normal ordinary day, fatigue would have grounded all.
But this is 24 December and chunks of food had been cooked, fried and stored.
“The house had been scraped bare and made neat; the compound cut clean and cute. Hairdos had been undone and redone. All have to head for the night service in church, or to the nearest bar to kick off the day Christ was born.
“The children are particularly excited; they know this is the eve of a very special day. The church service this night is just an opener to what will be the day they have continuously dreamed of for the past two months or so: 25 December.

Balloons
“Come this day, they will be donning their super Christmas dresses, eating fried pastries, jolof rice and fried plantains.
They will be visiting friends and relatives; jumping and playing in the courtyards with unlimited freedom — a rare thing they get once a year.
“Balloons will be blown up and tossed into the air until they burst with a drumming sound; children will receive gifts, and their freedom and happiness will shine and thrive like never before.
“The adults will seem to give children their freedom that day, although in truth, they may be sleeping as dead as stone — the exertions of the previous day’s nocturnal activities taking their toll.
“Later, they may be visiting some close-by bar or drinking in the neighbour’s courtyard; or they may just be attending yet another church service or communing with fellow Christians.
“Anyway you take it, it is freedom for the children.
Come the night of the 25th, some will be safely and squarely back home with a full family around.
But others sleeping somewhere in the road gutters with the children alone perplexed: ‘Where is Daddy? Oh Mummy, where are you?’
So ends 25 December.”

… Ghana
“MY CHRISTMAS starts on Christmas Eve,” says Samuel Asante who hails from Accra, Ghana. “I attend midnight mass at St Charles Lwanga parish, where I meet old friends whom I haven’t seen for a long time.
“The church is full to capacity on this night, as mass starts around 10pm. The mass is full of drumming and dancing to suit the happy occasion.
‘Africia Pa’, meaning Merry Christmas, is the common greeting.
“After mass, I sit at a popular joint with my friends to drink something small. On 25 December, I attend the Christmas Day mass at 0900h, usually in my best clothes.
“After mass, I come home to join the family for lunch — rice and chicken or fufu — with lots of drinks.
Most of my friends visit my home to join in the drinking and eating.
“Afterwards, we go to the beach to swim; the beach is always packed, and the gate rate increased.
My Muslim friends always join me in celebrating Christmas when all is fun, as there are parties in every little corner.”

… Uganda  
Ugandan women hard at work preparing the various Christmas dishes
WHEN WE go on school holidays in early December, I and my seven siblings sell potatoes or sugarcane and use the money to buy clothes and sandals, says young Harriet Anena, who is from a place called Gulu, in northern Uganda.
If our parents give us a little money, she says, we can then buy shoes. We use some of the money to buy threads for making table cloths and paper flowers – all these to celebrate Christmas.
Two weeks to D-day, the girls in the family smear the family’s grass-thatched huts with dark clay sand from the swamp and smear the floor with cow dung.
Our brothers slash grass around the compound and burn off dry leaves that are common in the dry season. The boys also make new papyrus mats and more stools from reeds for sitting on during the big day.
Then our mum buys rice, onions, and a hen, cock, duck, turkey or goat is identified from the family poultry for Christmas.
One week to the D-Day, our dad buys balloons and other decorations, which are then placed on the Christmas Tree. The girls also get their hair plaited with black threads and colourful beads. The women prepare a local brew — known as kwete in my Acholi culture — for the occasion.
On Christmas Eve, we iron all the clothes and clean the shoes. My mum also buys tomatoes, green peppers, curry powder and fresh beef. Two packets of baking flour for making bread (usually chapatti), two crates of sodas, and cooking oil are also bought.

Lingala music

On Christmas Day, the older girls wake up at 06:00h to bake bread, while the boys sweep the compound, place chairs and mats outside, awaiting family members and visitors.
Everyone goes to church except two girls left in charge of the kitchen.
Breakfast is served after church as the family waits for the delicious food variety made for lunch.
At 13:00h, visitors arrive; everyone assembles and lunch is served. The children sit in their circle, women in their own, and the men and the elders in another big round circle.
An uncle arranges for music — local and lingala; everyone gets on the dance floor with a cup of kwete or soda in hand.
The grandmothers gather around the fireplace and watch, chat, and laugh as their grandchildren have fun.
In the midst of that fun, the boys are also looking out for their teenage sisters who may be lured by a boy in the neighbourhood to go for a ‘night or two’.
Those who get drunk are also taken care of so that they don’t spoil the occasion.
The celebration takes the whole night, and continues the next day as people look forward to another celebration to mark the New Year.