It’s December and the best time of the year, Christmas time, finally starts. Santa picked up his reindeers and now heads for Europe, starting from Spain all the way up to Estonia. But instead of presents, he brings knowledge (props to Ace for their idea here! 🎅🏼). Our volunteers helped Santa telling him their Christmas stories – stories about traditions and favourite memories. But if Christmas has something in common in all our countries, it’s the importance of celebrating together with your (chosen) family.
And now: it’s time for presents!
Santa’s first stop: Spain – between sweets, Christmas lotteries and family time
A traditional Christmas dish:
Raquel: In Spain, one of the most traditional dishes for Christmas is turrón. It’s a sweet made from almonds, honey, and sugar, similar to nougat. There are many varieties, including soft and chewy or hard and crunchy. Families often enjoy it after Christmas meals.
Carla: In Spain, it is very typical to eat seafood first course during Christmas, such as prawns, squid, crabs, etc. A typical dessert is the “roscón de reyes”. It consists of a sponge cake with caramelized fruits on top. Inside, there is a small doll – whoever touches his piece must pay for dessert the following year, but in each family the tradition is different. “Roscón” is eaten on January 6 in the morning, since in Spain it is typical to celebrate the day of the three kings.
A typical Christmas tradition:
Raquel: A unique Christmas tradition in Spain is the El Gordo: Christmas lottery. It’s the biggest lottery draw of the year, held on December 22nd, and almost everyone buys a ticket. Families and friends gather to watch the draw, which lasts for hours and involves children singing the winning numbers.
Carla: In Spain there are different traditions, but in Galicia we have one called the “Apalpador”. He is an old man, bearded and big, who smokes a pipe and wears a beret, a colorful jacket and wears pants full of patches. The Apalpador goes down from the mountains to visit the children who live in villages. During the night he touches their bellies to know if they have eaten during that year. If they have done so, he leaves them chestnuts; if they have behaved well, he leaves them gifts.
Christmas Eve:
Raquel: In Spain, Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) is one of the most important celebrations. Families come together for a big dinner, often including dishes like roast lamb or seafood. After dinner, many people attend La Misa del Gallo (Midnight Mass) at church.
Carla: In my house we don’t usually celebrate, but we do have a meal to gather the whole family. Young children are given a gift, and the older ones wait until January 5.
What is your favorite part about Christmas? What is your favorite Christmas memory?
Raquel: My favorite part about Christmas is spending time with my family and sharing special meals together. One of my favorite memories is decorating the Christmas tree as a child, while singing carols and play “bingo” with my family.
Carla: My favorite part of Christmas is getting up on January 6th with the illusion of being able to open the presents. In my house, we gather the whole family in the living room to open them all together and see our faces of emotion and joy. It’s the first thing we do, even before breakfast, so in the photos and videos we take as a souvenir we are all in pajamas and disheveled with faces of joy.
Catalan – Santa Llúcia, Caga tió and… smacking your uncle?
A traditional Christmas dish:
David: During Christmas, we eat a variety of different dishes but the most popular ones are a kind of soup with pasta and different meats called escudella i carn d’olla. For second, we love having roasted duck, there’s also garrinet al forn which is a roasted small pig.
A typical Christmas tradition:
David: On the 13th of December we have the Santa Llúcia fair where you can find food, Christmas decorations and come spectacles. In my city of Barcelona, we have the biggest one, which is in front of the cathedral and lasts until the 23th. Lots of people come to enjoy all it has to offer.
Christmas Eve:
David: Some weeks before Christmas Eve, a magical piece of a tree named Caga tió (crap uncle) arrives at your home and sits under the tree. It has a smiley face and is wearing a traditional hat (barretina). The moment you find it, you should cover half of it with a blanket and feed it (normally with fruits) until the 24th – on that night, it is supposed to crap your gifts. After the gifts appear, all the kids gather around it and grab a long stick, while singing a song and smacking it until the song ends. After that, they take off its blanket where all the gifts are gathered.
What is your favorite part about Christmas? What is your favorite Christmas memory?
David: Christmas Eve is always the best night, having a great time with your loved ones is always one of the best ways to spend Christmas. My favourite memory is when I had to smack the Caga tió with my stick when I was 5 or 6. Because its name is Crap uncle, when my mother told me to smack it, I thought she meant to smack my actual uncle so I went after him with a stick all around the house.
Santa’s next stop: France – family gatherings, singing together and “foie gras”
A traditional Christmas dish:
Angélyna: One of the most traditional dishes representing Christmas in France is “foie gras”, used as a start with some bread and some fig jam for a sweet and salty taste – although I don’t think everyone enjoys it, whether for the taste or how it’s made. For me, the dessert “bûche de Noël” represent Christmas even better: apparently it supposed to resemble a wood log that used to burn in a chimney.
A typical Christmas tradition:
Angélyna: I think a typical tradition in France is the “Réveillon de Noël” for Christmas Eve. Most of the time, families reunite and have a big and long dinner where adults say kids that, if they don’t fall asleep, Santa won’t come. We also have figurines called “santons” which are used to set up a “crèche” but they are not only religious since they also represent traditional village characters.
Christmas Eve:
Angélyna: I believe Christmas Eve is just another reason to see your family and eat a lot of food with them. Some people with religious beliefs would probably go to the Christmas mass but I have never been. If not, people will probably go see a spectacle about Christmas in theatre or stay home to watch Christmas movies (I recommend The Polar Express!).
Adam: In France, Christmas is celebrated between the 24th and 25th of December. We start to eat the “apéro” (toasts, alcohol, fish) at 6pm. Then, we do some games with my family, for example, some Kahoot or Monopoly. We listen together some Christmas songs and we sing.
After the “apéro” we get to the table at 8 or 9pm. For the dinner we usually eat a turkey or fish (it depends on the inflation) with foie gras, foie gras is a very typical Christmas dish that we sometimes eat with salmon, butter and bread. For the dessert, we always eat a cake, made by my mom or my aunt. We are discussing about various things, laughing… After the dinner, it’s time to open all the present. Around the table we can be between 10 or 15 persons. So, it could take a lot of time. On the 25th of December, it’s the birthday of my grandpa, so the night is a little bit longer to celebrate his birthday.
What is your favorite part about Christmas? What is your favorite Christmas memory?
Angélyna: I think my favourite part of Christmas is seeing all my family come together for hours to eat, talk and sing songs (never really about Christmas). Since my family is not very religious, we just enjoy the time we spent together and I realise how special it is, especially since I’ve grown up.
So many colourful impressions – Santa loves every single one of them and is already thinking about his way to spend Christmas this year. But for now, he needs a little break. He is going to continue brining the present of knowledge soon!
Thanks to all the volunteers, who agreed to help Santa with this year’s gift giving!