Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Eve, the sun is shining and it's 21 degrees in Arequipa. I finished teaching on Thursday and don't have to go back until January 3rd and after 3 months of solid teaching it is a well deserved rest.

Christmas in Arequipa is very different to Christmas where I'm from and to try and find out a bit more about Christmas here I produced a lesson plan about cultural differences between England and Peru.

Christmas Day is the day of rest for the people of Arequipa. Christmas Eve is the day for celebrating. For many the day begins with cleaning the house, which seems sensible as this is what we would do in England if family were coming round, however the reasons for cleaning the house are more symbolic here. You have to remember that Peru is a very Catholic country and the true meaning of Christmas is still focused on the birth of Jesus, and the reason for cleaning the house is to welcome Jesus into the home.

After the house is clean and tidy it is time that many will start to put up their decorations, adopting the Christmas tree, which has become common in all parts of the world, and also focusing mainly on the nativity. The nativity is extremely important in people's homes and, if a family has the space, a whole room may be devoted to it.

Festivities start at about 9pm around the nativity scene. Here families will talk about the messages of Jesus and about other massages of good will whilst enjoying hot chocolate and panettone. At 12am the sky lights up with fireworks and champagne is toasted to welcome Christmas. After the fireworks have finished everybody will start to exchange gifts from under the Christmas tree. Once finished, everybody will sit down to a large Christmas dinner of turkey with all the trimmings of common vegetables in Peru.

Peruvians never take a holiday and if there is money to be made they will work. Since Christmas is the only time they take off it is common for drinking and dancing to continue until the early hours of the morning until, most probably the time that many people in England would start getting up to start the day. The reason for staying up so long is that it is the only time of year that a family will get to spend together enjoying each other's company.

I hope that I have given you a little insight into some of the traditions of the people of Arequipa. Sophie and I are missing our families very much. Instead of deciding to have the traditional Christmas we have opted for some meals that we love such as a fry up for breakfast, "toad in t'hole" for our main meal with loads of gravy and curry for our evening meal.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tom and Sophie