A Very Merry Christmas Update

My time in Chile is rapidly approaching its halfway point. I have been here for 127 days, and in those days, which have gone by at an alarming pace, we've gone through Labor Day, Chilean Independence Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and finally, Christmas.

Christmas in Chile is certainly different than Christmas in the States, but there are also some definite similarities. For starters, stores put out their Christmas goods in October. Just like in the U.S, shops are eager to move on to the next holiday. In fact, I've already seen some Easter decorations. On the other hand, Christmas does feel a little less commercialized here- even if the difference is very small.

Like in America, many people-most, in Chile- go to a Christmas Eve service, which typically starts at about 8:00. Unlike in America, it would be almost unheard of to have dinner before 8:00. This means that we need to sit through a mass and find our way to a relative's house before we can have dinner. And before we can eat, of course, we need to deal with Santa.

Santa exists! Or, I should say, the idea of him exists here in a way similar to that in the United States. Santa, called "Viejo Pascuero," passes from house to house just like in the States- drawn, of course, by a team of flying reindeer. But while Santa wiggles his way down chimneys in the Northern Hemisphere, here he is content to climb in through windows, or, if he is in a big hurry, just chuck the gifts onto the roof and hope that the owners have a good ladder.

And while kids in the U.S. are tucked in bed and sleeping so that they can be sure that Santa will come, kids here do quite the opposite: They leave their houses in hoards in the middle of the night and actively hunt down Santa, who I assume is trying not to succumb to heat stroke (remember, it's summer in Chile).

My host brother helping the kids look for Santa

While we were outside, we were lucky enough to run into a typical Chilean treat: Chinchineros, or Chilean one-man bands. They always have a bass drum and cymbal, but are known to wield accordions and/or harmonicas. The two that we found marching around in the middle of the night just had the drums and cymbals. This video is from Youtube. I couldn't get the video that I took to work here.

These are the ones we saw

After their fruitless hunt (full of screams of excitement at every airplane), the kids return to their houses, where they find that Santa has taken advantage of their absence and already climbed in and back out the window, leaving lots of gifts behind.

After the kids spend the next hour or so opening gifts, people generally remember that it's 1:00 in the morning and that they're starving, and they sit down to Christmas dinner. Our dinner consisted of turkey with mango sauce and a great deal of seafood. It was all very good.

After everyone has had their fill, they make their way home, often arriving in the early hours of the morning- in our case, at 5:30.

Christmas day is much less eventful. In my family, they do a "secret friend" exchange, where each person gets one other person a gift. I like this way of doing it, as it really cuts back on the typical and unnecessary excess of Christmas. This is often followed by a family lunch and then relaxing outside, either by the pool or at the beach.

I was assigned to get Javiera, my host sister, a gift.

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a good, healthy New Year.