Noche Buena began at about 10pm with a selection of grilled family favorites: churrasco, pork, chicken, and sausage accompanied by rice, refried beans, shredded cabbage salad, Nicaraguan tortillas, chile, avocado, Mexican Punch, homemade cranberry juice, and flan. Then came presents.
By presents I mean we put our otherwise recycled newspaper, junk mail, and assortment of collected boxes to good use. And then we dump it over each other and bury each other in it as if it were sand. Its our tradition:
When we were kids my father wanted to make sure that we throughly enjoyed Christmas, regardless of presents given or expected. So we cheered each and every present, opening them one by one on Christmas Eve after a late dinner. Some years we had scavenger hunts, having to search for our presents but mostly we had a tradition of packing a present inside a box, inside another box, inside another box. Prodded on by cheers we ripped off wrapping paper, throwing it in pieces to the floor, creating a colorful carpet that I'm sure made my mom and aunt flinch. Years later our tradition has evolved, becoming messier, louder, and increasingly creative in an attempt to not be predictable. For weeks my brother stores boxes in his room and then on the 24th they make their way out, unmarked. This year was no different except for the tons of shredded newspaper dumped all over the floor. I'm still finding evidence of the festivities.
I guess I'll be celebrating a little differently next year.
Here are some pictures from our celebration:
the quilt I made for my sister (my mom has stolen the other one)
me buried under the newspaper, thankfully my cousin
missed my face when he sat on me a few seconds later
my four year old cousin posing with a borrowed hat- he is so cute!!
1 comment:
Looks like you had "mountains" fo fun. You may have to come to our house next Christmas and let us try that tradition. I think the boys would like it, don't you. When do you fly out? We leave the 5th. MISS YOU BUNCHES! Andy says, "Hi Jeannete."
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