SAN SALVADOR – Central Americans live a December full of culture, religion and family unity. On those days it is common to see the grandmothers or the children of the house decorating the Christmas tree, preparing the manger where Jesus will be born and planning when they will buy the ingredients to prepare Christmas and New Year’s dinners.
In Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, markets are transformed: poinsettias appear, lights envelop the trees, illuminated waterfalls dress houses for Christmas and gunpowder is sold. There are also mangers everywhere.
religiousness
Four weeks before Christmas Eve, the posadas begin to tour the streets of the Central American towns and neighborhoods.
The parishioners carry the figures of José and pregnant María in search of a house that receives them, and accompanied by the sound of tambourines and turtle carapachos they sing: “In the name of heaven-ee-lo, oo-I ask you po- sa-aa-da!” The houses prepare to receive them with tamales and punch after a prayer.
On December 7, when the sun goes down in Guatemala, the streets are filled with bonfires in which garbage and old things are burned, also piñatas in the shape of a red demon, as part of a tradition known as “the burning of the Devil”, on the eve of the Catholic feast of the Virgin Immaculate Conception. This tradition symbolizes the purification prior to the processional passage of the Virgin and the Birth of Jesus, after Christmas Eve.
But the tradition that unites El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala is the birth of Jesus on December 24 at midnight: the Child God, Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, the mule and the ox are the most sold clay images in the markets of these countries. There is also no lack of figures of angels, sheep and shepherds.
There are towns in Guatemala where these nativity scenes are tropicalized and instead of only depicting the birth of Jesus Christ in a Bethlehem portal full of moss and stones, the mysteries add the memory of indigenous peoples and their ways of life: indigenous women making corn tortillas and children pulling water from the rivers to their homes.
Parties
At the party it opens! A shirt, pants, a dress or a outfits new. “El première” is a tradition in El Salvador and Guatemala, and it shines during the Christmas Eve dinner.
And it is that the dinners of December 24 and 31 are for many the most important of the year: Central American families prepare turkey in Creole sauce, chicken stuffed with potatoes or tamales: a traditional dish of corn dough stuffed with chicken, vegetables or plants of the region such as the blackberry or the chipilín.
If there is leftover food, the famous “reheated” the next day is the rule. In the house of the Central Americans nothing is wasted.
And do you drink? The whole year! In El Salvador, not only dinner is planned, but also drinks that can leave many without getting up to dance the cumbias of the Flores Brothers or the San Vicente Orchestra.
Beers, wine and spirits generally drop in price in supermarkets, with shelves mostly empty leading up to Christmas Eve and New Years.
Hondurans and Guatemalans make their own spirits: rompope, from Honduras, is made with milk, cinnamon, and egg. Oh, and bring picket (liquor) if you wish! In Guatemala, the quintessential Christmas drink is fruit punch, made with sugar cane, apple, pineapple, and banana.
For many, the proximity of Christmas serves as an excuse to eat better: in these countries the sale of grapes and apples increases. If money is not enough, the markets sell eight ounces of fruit or even four, as long as the buyer can have them on his table during the holidays.
On Christmas Eve there is no shortage of music, from traditional Christmas carols such as “Noche de Paz” and “Los peces en el río”, to cumbias by Aniceto Molina or La Sonora Dinamita, before or after midnight.
Women, men and children dance to the rhythm of the music and the rockets that tend to deafen more than one person.
In addition to the smell of Christmas dinner, Christmas Eve smells of gunpowder. The famous “submachine guns”, in charge of the adults, cover the streets with paper and the sky lights up with fireworks and sparklers. The children, for their part, burn little volcanoes and the smallest little stars.
In Central America, children also wait for Santa Claus, some write him letters telling him how they have behaved all year and, if they have behaved well, they ask him for the toys they want to receive as a gift on Christmas Eve.
The hug is inevitable. “There are 5 to 12 to go, the year is going to end, I’m running home to hug my mom!” says the song. It is not known if the tradition of hugging comes from this melody by Néstor Zavarce, but when the clock strikes 12 (zero hours) at these parties, many tend to look for their mother, father, siblings, grandparents or neighbors to give a comforting hug from New Year.
after the party
It’s dawn, it’s New Years, but the party continues.
In El Salvador, the beaches are filled with families and, as the country is the smallest in Central America, you can also visit the mountains where there are plenty of restaurants selling chicken soup, which some look forward to after New Year’s Eve.
From then until mid-January, when a Central American meets another he hasn’t seen since December, he will greet him with “Happy New Year!”
If they haven’t done it before, January 1 and the following days are ideal for some, especially the youngest, to make their New Year’s resolutions.
Then they make resolutions such as going to the gym, enrolling in English classes, saving to change a car or simply quit smoking. In December, when they already think about next Christmas, it will be clear whether or not they met those goals.
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