Christmas Update

Christmas has come and gone here in Colombia and I can’t relieve we’re well into January already. How quickly time flies! I would like to attempt to summarize the goings on known as the holiday season for all who are curious…

When Advent was starting back in the United States, the holiday season was just beginning here with street vendors selling all sorts of odds and ends. Aside from these vendors and the decorations for sale in the stores, one wouldn’t be able to tell that it was December. No snow, no Christmas carols, and no Advent here! The Catholic church in town has a sort of advent and in an attempt to distinguish from this, the Protestant churches stay as far away from Advent as possible. It is also uncommon to sing Christmas songs in church, and I found it rather hard for me to anticipate Christ’s birth without regular repetitions of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” in wonderful four part harmony ringing in my ears. In an attempt to combat this lack, we gathered with Aaron and Laura (the missionary couple who leads us) and, huddling around two hymnals, made a stab at imitating a full sanctuary of Mennonites. The songs did wonders for our Christmas spirit.

The Christmas spirit did finally arrive in La Mesa, but only by the time Christmas itself rolled around. My host family and I spent the evening with Amy and her family talking and eating. As Colombians traditionally serve everyone a plate of food rather than eating family-style, I was surprised to find a buffet set up. What a treat it was to serve myself! Everyone had brought their presents over, and we stayed up until midnight to open them. The Santa Clause image exists here, but since they don’t wake up on Christmas morning and open presents, his holding with the kids isn’t the same. Around midnight there was a barrage of fireworks all over town that reminded me of the 4th of July.

The fireworks continued off and on all week and culminated on the 31st. I was told that here the New Year is almost a bigger deal than Christmas, and I definitely witnessed that. While there were no church services on Christmas Eve or on Christmas day, the church celebrated on the 31st with a potluck (more or less…the concept is a little foreign here) and a time to make New Year’s resolutions. Afterwards we went to a family friend’s house to ring in the New Year. Traditionally there is a meal served at midnight, so that on top of my potluck food was quite a load!

Throughout the holiday season I suffered a little bit of homesickness, but not nearly at the level I expected. It came in waves. One day a Spanish version of a familiar holiday movie would do it, and the next day it would be a candle that brought back memories of the youth group’s luminaries on Christmas Eve. It was good, though, to experience a different side of the holidays. An important tradition for me may not be an important tradition for another, but we all can feel the love and beauty in Christ’s birth nonetheless.