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Posts Tagged ‘Christmas in Chile’

Christmas is that time of year, when all one can see around him or her, is an atmosphere of celebration, festivities, fun, joy and greetings. On the festival, people like to have a vacation, with their family members, friends and spouse, and thereby exploring the festive activities and arrangements in various places of the world.

Every country, has its authentic charm to offer to a visitor, and through its culture, festivals and fairs, every place has something unique to offer. Let’s have a look at what these hand picked, but charming destinations around the world, are offering a tourist, during Christmas.

Christmas in Chile : This South American republic, offers a comparatively warm Christmas, unlike the US states, and celebrates a very ritualistic Christmas, with proper church practices. The Chileans also observe a typical Roman Catholic practice called ‘Novena’, which is a prayer service, that begins nine days before the Eve, and the other major activities like decorating the house with lights, nativity scenes, and Christmas tree is common. Clay figures called ‘pesebre’ are also used in decorating the tree. In Chile, you will also find their own additions to the Christmas delicacies like ‘azuela de ave’, chicken soup; ‘pan de pasqua’, candy stuffed bread; ‘rompon’ and ‘cola de mono’, the special drinks for Christmas, which brings a uniqueness in Chilean Christmas. And the best part is their inclination to celebrate Christmas with nature, and natural elements, so have a Chilean ‘Feliz Navidad’.

Christmas in Egypt : Egyptians are the followers of Coptic Church, which is an Orthodox church, and thereby celebrating Christmas on the 7th of January. An Egyptian Christmas is a much rigorous practice, with people avoiding meat dishes. The Eve witness a constant ringing of bells in churches and prayers, which is followed by a meal, known in Egyptian as ‘fata’, which consists of boiled meat dishes, bread and rice dishes and drinks. Christians in Egypt celebrate the Christmas festival in a strict code but the customary fun and festivities also make its presence felt during the Eve.

Christmas in Puerto Rico : Puerto Rico celebrates Christmas in a very gay manner, with the entire month dedicated to the celebrations. The 24th, 25th (Navidad), 31st and 6th of January being most important days of the entire festive season. The Ricans wear their traditional straw hats, called ‘pava’, to get a proper feel of the occasion, and roam around the neighborhood in ‘parrandas’, small groups, to sing Christmas carols. The Puerto Ricans eat roasted pig ‘lechon asao’ on the Christmas day, as a traditional meal. The celebration follows till January, when on the 5th day, children have the most fun, on Los Reyes, through feeding grass to the camels. Though most places have started the celebrations as US Christmas, some places in the islands of Puerto Rico, still practice an old traditional Christmas.
Christmas in Belgium : Though the Belgians celebrate Jesus Christ’s birthday on 25th December as the rest of the world, the main Christmas events in the country take place on 4th and 6th December, when St. Niklaas and Pere Noel, visit children and distribute gifts to them if they had been good, or else no gifts for them. Belgian Christmas Eve,  is also an event of family dinner, social gatherings and church services, and the families listen to the masses in the same way as the others. Children get gifts under decorated trees too, but the practice is mainly adopted from US countries to cerebrate a world wide festival.
Explore the charm of Christmas in these unique lands, uniquely, and have a Merry Christmas.