Café Y Cultura - Costumbres Navideñas!

In our “native lands” there were many customs taught to us by our parents, and by our parents’ parents, each associated with the holidays! These are the warmest times of the year, simply because they are filled with a certain magic.

Chances are if you put a bunch of Latinos together in a house, yard, club or hall and throw on some of our great Latin music, you’re going to have one heck of a party! Our fiestas are beyond comparison - far from boring or mundane. Even on regular occasions, you will find plenty of food, drink, music and dancing. But during “Las Navidades” we go ALL OUT! Cooking up a storm, decorating the house, humming those great canciones in preparation of our next fiesta.

Hispanos have many similarities… not only our shared language, but also our customs, looks, styles, beliefs and traditions.

In this issue of Latin Village Magazine, we shine the spotlight on “Costumbres Navideñas” how it’s done back home, and what makes it all so special.
-Jolie

¡La Isla Del Encanto! By: Jose Diaz
El Jorgorio está, el jolgorio está, bien por la maceta.
Vamos a bailar, aja! WEPA! WEPA! WEPA!

Las Parrandas
¡Ya vienen las Navidades! That’s an expression that is clearly etched in my fondest memories of my boricua upbringing. As a child, I remember visiting El Borinquen during Las Navidades. It seemed like just about every year my parents would visit mis abuelitos in Orocovis for the Holidays. Legend has it (according to my abuelito) Puerto Rican Christmas’ are rumored to be among the longest celebrated in Latin America! They actually started celebrating Las Navidades in late October and often celebrated up until Passover and further! Supposedly on the night of Passover, they would go so far as to back up the clock so that they could have more time to continue El Jorgorio. This was often called La Media Raja or La Napa.

I still remember the sound of las parrandas, and the chiki que chiki of the guiro. My favorite part of these parrandas was the way they started: A group of us would gather in the batey (front lawn) of someone’s home in the middle of the night, and all you could hear was the combined whispers, giggles and the loud “Shhhhh!”. Then, all of a sudden the music would fill the air with its beats until our friends would wake up, run for the door… still in their pajamas, the lady of the house often wearing rollers. Since it was considered a huge honor to have a parranda at your home, the hosts would immediately prepare a warm meal for the parranderos. Afterward, it was common for the current hosts to become guests at other homes that would be visited that night.

Home-made Ron Pitorro (Ron Caña) lent that extra special feeling to the evening, especially when accompanied by a group of friends/family, a good cuatro templao, a guiro, a set of maracas, a cow bell, some clapping hands, some pretty good singers, etc..(you get the picture). The aguinaldos made everyone want to dance, and it seemed this went on hasta el amanecer. My tio Sico entertained everyone with his trovas y bombas, sweet decimas of inspirational frenzies. Yeah…those were the days! The jorgorio would go on all night and into the morning.

La Comida
It was impossible to ignore the aroma of the Arroz con Gandules, the Morcillas and the Guineitos en Escabeche. The freshly made pasteles, mmmmmm boiling in a big black pot in the fogon ready to be served at will. And the desserts! Arroz con Dulce, Majarete, Flan y Budin. The ladies would all gather in the kitchen talking about losing weight in the coming year, all the while generously consuming un poquito de todo! Una Piña Colada, Coquito, a Bacardi n’Coke, or ¡dame un “Chot” de Ron….It’s Noche Buena!

Dia De Los Reyes
The Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes) was without a doubt, my favorite day. (Come to think of it, it was a favorite for every kid in the barrio.) The night before this special and often believed as the most sacred of all the fiestas navideñas, the muchacheria would gather boxes and filled them with yerba Santa Maria. They would then take these boxes and place them under their beds. The next morning the Three Kings would have come and delivered presents in exchange for the yerba Santa Maria. The yerba was to refuel the camels for their long voyage back to the orient. The fiestas navideñas would continue… the singing, eating, dancing to the octavas and octavitas, for many more weeks to come. Meanwhile, the rocio del aurora would mark another year of prosperity and hope in the land that our indigenous ancestors call Boriquen. La tierra del gran creador…