Post date: Dec 16, 2016 4:01:53 PM
Feliz Noël
Claire Benevento-12 Several countries aside from the United States are represented at Kirksville High School. We have foreign exchange students, and also immigrants from the Congo, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Since it is the holiday season, I interviewed several foreign students about Christmas traditions in their native countries. All the students I spoke with said that Christmas in their native country is celebrated similarly to the way it is celebrated in the United States, but there are some subtle differences.
I talked to three students from the Congo, Exauce Longi-Nzuzi-11, Sabrina Mwanga-12, and Remerdie Ndiang-9. Exauce told me that Christmas for her in the Congo involved putting up decorations and traveling to see family; both of those activities are common in the United States. Also, “In church, there is some activity the children do...singing, dancing, something like that,” Exauce said. However, traditional Christmas foods in the Congo are plantains, fish, and beans, according to Exauce and Sabrina.
Ndiang reiterated the idea that Christmas traditions are similar in the United States and the Congo, and added that Santa Claus is part of the tradition. “There’s people who dress up like [Santa] and...go around and take pictures with the kids,” Ndiang said.
I also talked with Cynthia Banales-12, who is from Mexico. She travels to Chicago for Christmas to see family there. “We buy gifts for each other, or we can make our own gift, and we play music during Christmas,” Banales said.
In Mexico, decorations are like those in the United States, with Christmas lights and trees. However, there is no tradition of Santa Claus bringing gifts to children on Christmas. “We have...the Three Kings’ Day...and it’s not in December...it’s January 6th instead,” Banales explained. Three Kings’ Day celebrates the biblical three wise men who brought Jesus gifts shortly after his birth. Banales said that children write letters to the three kings the same way children here write letters to Santa, and the three kings bring them gifts.
In Puerto Rico, Itza Fernandez-12 told me, children get presents from Santa Claus and the three kings, which seems like the best deal to me. She described January 6th as another Christmas. “Your Christmas tree’s still up, your Christmas decorations are still up,” Fernandez said. The holiday celebrations last most of January, with various festivals, music, and dancing. That is a significant difference from the United States, where people celebrate Christmas during most of December and often take their trees down before the start of January.
There are a few traditional Christmas foods in Puerto Rico. “We eat a roasted type of pig, rice with beans. We have a special drink, it’s called coquito. It’s made of coconuts - it’s really good,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez also emphasized the importance of Christmas as a time for family. “It’s just basically a day and a time you spend with family, and everybody else doesn’t exist, it’s just family and you’re together,” Fernandez said.
It was a strange experience, going up to people I generally didn’t know and asking them to tell me about Christmas in their native countries. I did get some good answers, though, despite the funny looks they gave me.