Well, the week of Christmas I was pretty busy at the parish preparing for a concert of Christmas carols (villancicos), practicing with the choir for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mass, and rehearsing with the theater group for our reenactment of the nativity story. The villancicos concert was Wednesday the 23rd after evening mass. Three of the groups I participate in sang songs: English, Canticos del Sol (the youth choir), and TEFA (the theater group). Our English students sang O Come All Ye Faithful, Jingle Bells, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Marcelle and I also played two flute duets of Christmas arrangements. The songs with the youth choir were probably two of my favorite that I learned this year: Cholito Jesus and Mi Burrito Sabanero. Cholito Jesus mentions all of the things specific to Peru and adds them to the nativity scene including Peruvian instruments, food, drink, and clothing. TEFA sang Navidad Marinero (about fisherman) and Ven a Cantar. I thought overall the concert was a success and everyone seemed to have a good time singing along. My favorite performance was probably from the charismatic group at the parish because they dressed in traditional clothing of the sierra and played the peruvian flute.
For the Christmas Eve mass and Christmas Day all of the choirs joined together to sing under the direction of Padre Raul, who is a pretty talented singer himself. We sang Silent Night in 4 different languages: Spanish, Italian, German (we have two German priests at the parish), and English. For one of the Spanish solos an adorable little boy sang the chorus and then for the English solo the first night all of us missionaries sang, but on Christmas day it was just me. The church was adorned with a beautiful nativity scene of an indigenous tribe in Peru carved by one of the postulants. One interesting tradition that was new is that almost everyone brought a baby Jesus to be blessed by the priests to adorn their nativity scene. There was a table in the front of the altar filled with baby Jesuses. At any given mass this table is also there and people will bring water or other adornments that they wish to be blessed by the priests. Mass started around 9pm with our theater group reenacting the Christmas story. I played the part of a master of the law (basically a scribe) and a shepherd. It was directed by one of the group members and I thought it went well. Mass ended around 10:30pm and everyone left to prepare for their big dinner at midnight.
Gracias a Dios each of us had invitations to someone's house to share in this midnight meal and celebration. Our friends Roy and Laura from the parish invited Marcelle and I to eat with them, so after mass we headed to their house to hang out and wait until midnight. At midnight we went out into the streets filled with children and all of the neighbors lighting off fireworks and wishing one another a Feliz Navidad. It was a really beautiful and grace filled moment for me standing in front of the house, looking out onto this street in a Peruvian neighborhood with its Christmas lights, decorations, dirt, trash, fireworks, and listening to the shouts and laughter of the children and adults, taking everything in and feeling God born in this holy moment in a completely foreign country and culture. Then we all headed back inside to share a meal of turkey, french fries!, salad, and lots of bread and hot chocolate. Marcelle and I headed home early for Peruvian standards around 2am because we were both pretty exhausted.
Christmas day all of us missionaries went to a lunch at the Dominican sisters' house with the Incarnate Word sisters and the Sisters of the Misericordia. It was a really nice meal and compartir with all really awesome women! When we got back to the house in the afternoon the five of us had our gift exchange and then rested after a long day. I had mass again that night at 7pm and then after mass was the chocolatada with the drunk men outside the sisters' house which I mentioned in the last post.
While it was a very strange Christmas without any of the traditions I am used to or weather for that matter, I am grateful for the opportunity to have celebrated the birth of Christ in Chimbote, Peru and to learn and share in another culture's traditions and celebrations of the divine present with us. It is definitely a Christmas I will never forget.
For New Years I think we are just going to have a party here at the house with some friends from the parish. There is a tradition of burning dolls in the streets at midnight so I'll let you know how that goes. Also, the shops are covered in yellow right now as there is a superstition that you should wear yellow for the new year to bring good luck, including underwear! They also eat 12 grapes at midnight for each month to bring luck in the new year. I probably won't write for a little while because my friend Sarah from SLU is coming to visit for a week so I'll be hosting her.
Prospero Año Nuevo y que Dios les bendiga en el nuevo año!
paz y amor
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