Christmas in the RD???

[mamielizabeth]

with 10 days left until Christmas ,I am wondering what prep for December 25,is like in the Dominican Republic? What are the traditions? How do families spend the day?

[Chirimoya]

Dec 25th is not as important the the previous evening, when families get together for the traditional 'Noche Buena' meal. Gifts are given to children on January 6th (Reyes) but in some parts of the DR the tradition is to give these on the 24th or 25th (El Niño Jesús).

[Ezequiel]

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

Dec 25th is not as important the the previous evening, when families get together for the traditional 'Noche Buena' meal. Gifts are given to children on January 6th (Reyes) but in some parts of the DR the tradition is to give these on the 24th or 25th (El Niño Jesús).

In Santiago and el Cibao, gifts are given to children on Dec 25th, in La Capital and the South in Jan 6th (Reyes).

[MikeFisher]

the Mrs and the boys will be in Santiago this year,
si lil Mike will do his own 'noche buena' cooking,
a plate of shrimps,
some cases of greenies,
a whole box of good wine,
enough red snapper filets to also feed the guys who take care about the res area around our house, like gardener, housekeeper, day and night security aso.
it is tradition in the DR that you bring plates of your x-mas eve food to your neighbours, specially to the needed ones who may not be able to do the shopping for a x-mas pork aso.
the 25th is the full holiday,
and that means we are out on the streets killing all beers we can lay a hand on, ha ha, but like i am in PC this year it will be more quiet than my usual x-mas campo visits. usually in the PC area there are just 2 kinds of perople present that day:
* the ones who have to work
* the ones who are off, and they are headed off to their home cities/campos aso.
the streets of PC are on 25th, jan1st very quiet and empty.
merry x-mas
Mike

[J D Sauser]

I had "my Dominican family" (the ones with the girls I send to school) over last year. The girls really dug the fact that we were going to set up a Christmas tree... actually they got almost more exited over it than about the many gifts I later placed under it. Even the adults took turns to get a picture shot standing next to the tree, just like taking fan pictures with Anthony Santos.
I organized (call it bought) gifts only for the children but also had a pig suckling on the BBQ and some disciplined amounts of beer.
All went well and the girls, who had brought along a long list of cousins and half sisters and half brothers enjoyed the fact that I declared the could open the gifts after supper on the 24th. Apparently, they knew too that some people do that.
My only mistake was the I put up some Christmas Music CD's (Johnny Cash's and my steel guitar hereo Buddy Emmons' Christmas records) only to find out that Christmas music not only was something they did not know or relate to the event but really did not care about. So, we went back to loud Merengue, Bachaticas and Salsa.
Then, I turned all the adults loose on the Malecon, packed up the kids, set'em all up on a big inflatable matress in front of the TV with all their gifts and went... to sleep.
Some adults showed up late for breakfast and others really went missings and only were seen again the following summer for a party at the river.

This time around, I got my cousin and his bride here... so we got less space. Since the Malecon where all the bulla is at, well most certainly be the final destination of the "adults" and would-be's, I decided I was going to set up the Christmas tree at one of the new little bars along the beach where at one we got friendly with one of the owners and I'll make a large seafood paella and bring a case or two of beers. Then, I'll do my usual life rescue thing, grab them kids and treat them to a nice evening while their parents and get trashed once again. Halleluya!
I got good locks! I'll have a tranquil and happy Christmas with the ones which still have some sense... the kids... after all, it's THEIR moment of glory... at least that's the memories I cherrish of Christmas when I was... a kid.



... J-D.

[MikeFisher]

ha ha
yeap JD,
i understand you a 100%.
you really can not bring that original x-mas feeling in here.
for the kiddies it is playing the way they would on any good organized kiddies birthday party and opening some gifts afterwards.
for the middle aged adults/parents of 'em it is just an other day of the year and invited to a house where booze and good food is free, as soon as mthat booze is gone and the stomacks are full they are back on the malecon, he he.
we know, some thingies are different here, lol.
but great that you go on to try to set it up like it should be, at least in our knowledge of back in the day.
this year i did not get a x-mas tree, few days ago i've been on the last try to find something what i would like, been at Iberia in Higuey, saw those 'trees', didn't like any, bought an other 7 packs of colored lights for the Mrs to hang around the terrasse and the surrounding palm trees.
when i was a kid the setting up of the x-mas tree with daddy been a nearby whole day thingy, and that been a great one.
merry x-mas
Mike

[M.A.R.]

You guys are funny, of course you must play El Conjunto Quisqueya for chrismas music and some Johnny Ventura or El Burrito Sabanero de la Rondallita, those are trandtional Dominican Christmas songs, there are lots more but i don't remember right now.

[laurajane]

Yes the 24th is the big day and i always have conflicting opinion on it. At first i thought it was like celebrating your birthday the day before but actually i think its a great idea as it means mum can enjoy Christmas day itself with the family and not slaving away in the kitchen all day.

I do myself however like to do the gifts on the 25th like back home, and i cant wait for the day my little girl is big enough to understand stories about santa clause and such because one thing i do feel is the world over many people seem to no longer put the gifts under the tree the night before christmas when the children are sleeping, and fill stockings etc. Many seem to put the gifts under the tree weeks before its time to open them.

It actually quite nice as i manage to combine two christmasses in one, the dominican style 24th and the traditional english 25th, problem is that means twice as many calories!

Merry Christmas everyone!

[NALs]

Originally Posted by laurajane

Yes the 24th is the big day and i always have conflicting opinion on it. At first i thought it was like celebrating your birthday the day before but actually i think its a great idea as it means mum can enjoy Christmas day itself with the family and not slaving away in the kitchen all day.

The reason we do the celebrations on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day is because the way it used to be was that people would celebrate the anticipation of the birth of Christ, which according to tradition is dictated by the church at the midnight mass on the 25th. That mass is called "Misa de Gallo". So, people would celebrate on Christmas Eve, then around midnight go to church to celebrate the midnight mass, and then spend the 25th in peace out of respect for Christ.

Of course, nowadays, people celebrate on Christmas Eve, don't go to the mass at midnight, and for many, spend the 25th with a hang over. Ha ha, its true for many people!

Many of the festivities in the DR had a religious origin and the reason we celebrate them the way we do is directly tied to religion, even though today the religious part has been removed; for the most part.

-NALs

[rubio_higuey]

Originally Posted by NALs

The reason we do the celebrations on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day is because the way it used to be was that people would celebrate the anticipation of the birth of Christ, which according to tradition is dictated by the church at the midnight mass on the 25th. That mass is called "Misa de Gallo". So, people would celebrate on Christmas Eve, then around midnight go to church to celebrate the midnight mass, and then spend the 25th in peace out of respect for Christ.

That's the traditional way in continental Europe and I am proud to say my family does just that. I am looking forward to that.