Feliz Navidad! I love Christmas. Really, really love it. I typically start blasting Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving and savor every Christmas tradition possible. Despite being 22 and the oldest child in my family, I am still the one who wakes up my entire family on Christmas Day before sunrise. Christmas conjures images of hot chocolate, snowy walks, candlelit church services, and time with family and close friends, so I wasn’t sure how spending Christmas in Peruvian summer without the familiarity of loved ones would be. Although I undoubtedly missed the traditions and people of home, spending the Christmas season in Poroto was definitely an experience. I may have traded a Christmas morning snowy walk for a hike through Poroto’s pineapple fields and candlelit church services for firecrackers at midnight, but despite these alterations in my Christmas traditions, I was able to share in an intimate cultural celebration as part of a Peruvian family and community member.
Nativity play at a caserio graduation celebration
Christmas in America seems to start as soon as the Jack-O-Lanterns have rotted after Halloween, but here in Peru the majority of Christmas celebrations occur during the week of Christmas. The Peruvian summer is beginning and school is finishing for vacation, so end of the year festivities were intertwined with Christmas celebrations at the local schools. In addition to handing out graduation certificates I also found myself fashioning angel wings and shepard’s robes for the nativity scenes that accompanied graduation ceremonies.
Chocolotadas are possibly the most important, or at least most prevalent, element of a Peruvian Christmas. Chocolotadas are large events sponsored by different organizations or community members that distribute massive quantities of hot chocolate, paneton, and toys to children and families in need. I attended various Chocolotadas this Christmas season as well as planning one with a youth group I’ve been working with. Although it may not seem like a particularly complicated undertaking, I realized how many details must be accounted for when planning a chocolotada with about 12 sixteen-year-olds. The group was ambitious in their selection of a location, as we decided to do our chocolotada in Huayabito, Poroto’s furthest caserio which has no communication and no transportation. However, the poverty levels there are extremely high and we decided our efforts would be most worthwhile in this location. The youth managed to acquire various donations for chocolate, milk, toys, and panetons from local community members, but on the day we were scheduled to do our chocolotada we were still short several toys as well as a means of transportation to Huayabito. Previously we’ve walked to this caserio, but a three hour hike in extreme heat and sun carrying Santa-size sacks of gifts would have been impossible. After much craziness and rapid exchanges of ideas possible solutions (your uncle has a moto!, but your cousin has a donkey!, well why don’t we just convince the health post to let us use the ambulance!, we can walk, no! I’ll die!, and so on) we finally managed to find someone’s uncle’s cousin’s friend who let us pile in the back of his pickup truck. As for the lacking gifts, the youth generously volunteered to pool their own hard-earned money to purchase the remaining presents, which I think was an awesome testament to their dedication to their community. 
Luckily we survived the trip through the mountains in the pickup truck
Fortunately we arrived in one piece despite the crazy serpentines, uneven paths, and steep cliffs. Upon our arrival we wondered around the town in search of the senora who promised we could borrow her giant pots and pans to prepare our chocolotada. After wondering through a few fields and dodging several turkeys, we managed to find Senora Rosemary who helped build a fire and get started with our enormous vat of hot chocolate. As we sat under the thatched roof with neighborhood kids anxiously monitoring our progress, each youth took turns wearing the santa hat and adjusting the hot chocolate to their own personal taste. 
When it was all prepared we transported it to the soccer court and immediately families from throughout the caserio emerged from their homes and fields to share in the Christmas celebration. 
We distributed hot chocolate, cake, and toys to dozens of children and families in the district, and after several hours our chocolotada turned into a community-wide dance party. It started with a dance competition among the littlest members of Huayabito, but before long the shy senoras from the town were dancing with the 16 year old boys from the youth group and everyone was laughing and enjoying the afternoon. 
The following day was Chocolotada #2 with the health post, and I was in charge of organizing the youth health promoters to help facilitate games and activities with the kids in attendance. Trying to play Christmas games with over 100 small children who were anxiously awaiting their toys was a bit of a task, but as soon as Papa Noel emerged from the health post doors, they were mesmerized. Román, the orthodontic intern at the health post, made quite a convincing Papa Noel. Drinking hot chocolate in 80 degree weather seemed somewhat strange, but the event as a whole was a lot of fun.
Papa Noel was a big hit
Consejeras de Salud with Papa Noel
Health Post Staff
One of my favorite celebrations during this year’s Christmas season was the Christmas party and gift exchange with Poroto’s health post staff. I adore all the staff at the health post and they treat me as if I’m a part of their family. In honor of the Christmas holiday they butchered a giant hog and we feasted together. Although they offered to let me kill the pig, I passed and opted to make chocolate cake and salad instead. The gift exchange was a hilarious event as each person had to stand up and make a speech about the following person. Needless to say there was plenty of laughter, hugging, and Christmas cheer. To conclude the fiesta we all held hands and belted out Feliz Navidad (and I of course ended up singing the English lines as a solo).
Christmas Eve, or La Noche Buena, is celebrated more than Christmas day here in Peru. Shortly after waking up my host mom and host grandmother (who is visiting for the holidays) asked if I would like to help select the Christmas Eve turkey. Having heard endless accounts of the importance of the famous Christmas turkey, I happily agreed to be a part of the selection process. We walked to a neighbor’s farm to check out our options, and ended up examining each turkey thoroughly to ensure we found the fattest and most delicious turkey available. We threw the lucky winner into a bag and hauled him back to the house.
Selecting the fattest Christmas turkey
Christmas dinner at midnight (almost)
I opted out of the skinning and de-feathering process, but spent the rest of the day cooking and hanging out with my host family. The turkey was too big for our small oven, so we took it to the town bakery where nearly everyone in the town was gathered to cook their Christmas meal. It is Peruvian tradition to wait until midnight to eat Christmas dinner, but we were all famished at 11 so we cheated and ate early. Our Christmas dinner consisted of a giant turkey, cake, paneton (which is kind of like flaky fruit cake), bread, stuffing, and hot chocolate all served as finger food without individual plates. The dinner was really nice and we were accompanied by the grandmother and 2 nephews. As the clock struck midnight we lit off firecrackers and gave each other big hugs, which is a Peruvian tradition and personally my favorite part of the evening.
Yum- Joshy enjoyed the turkey!
Our precious neighbor, Biga!
Christmas day began with a family walk to the chacra. Accompanied by the donkey we all headed out to the pineapple fields to enjoy the sunshine and harvest avocado, papaya, and pineapple. We hiked around the chacra for several hours, climbing trees, eating fruit, and just hanging out. 
My real family called while I was out in the field and my host family couldn’t stop laughing as I chatted in English. My host mom insisted on grabbing the phone and yelling “Feliz Navidad!” but the communication abilities between the two families were pretty limited beyond that. They are both so interested in one another; I hope that one day they’ll have the chance to meet. I certainly missed my “real” family and friends this Christmas, but I felt very well loved here in Peru, and although I was eating pineapple in the sunshine instead of gingerbread houses by the fire, it was a very special Christmas indeed.
More than anything I think this holiday allowed me to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. This Christmas was not only stripped of the commercialism so engrained in American culture, but also devoid of many of the usual comforts and joys of a holiday spent with those I care most about. However, the celebration of Christ's birth and entrance to the world doesn't need to be accompanied by Christmas trees, gifts, or even my family and friends. I have been so blessed with this opportunity and without faith and His strength I don't think I would be here.
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