Guatemalan Christmas Decorations: El Nacimiento

Right at midnight on December 24th/25th, baby Jesus is put in the Nacimiento scene set up on December 8th (do you remember?). Right at midnight the joy and happiness of Guatemalans celebrating Navidad (Christmas) literally explodes into firecrackers, bell rings, songs, hugs, and sharing of lots of great Guatemalan Christmas cuisine, like tamales especially made for the occasion.

Merry Christmas Everyone! My best wishes of Love and Peace for All!

Tomorrow I will try to post photos and videos of the Christmas celebrations in Guatemala as they occur right at midnight. Stay tune!

7 Responses to "Guatemalan Christmas Decorations: El Nacimiento"

Kika says:
December 25, 2008 at 9:26 am
I´m a huge fan of this blog!
I´m in Guatemala City ow, and loving it. It is my first time here and I get to celebrate the holidays. It has been a wonderful experience.
Reply
1. Rudy Girón says:
  December 25, 2008 at 7:27 pm
  Please Kika, let’s know how was your Christmas Eve experience in Guatemala City. We want to know your first-time experience.
  Reply
John S. says:
December 25, 2008 at 4:41 pm
One day right after we were married, my wife started carting pine needles, pinecones and a wheelbarrow full of dirt into the house. It was like that scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind where Richard Dreyfus starts building a model of Devil’s Tower in his living room! That’s how I learned about the Guatemalan nacimiento tradition. Ours even have little rivers made of blue cellphane, and bridges for the wise men to cross.
Reply
1. Rudy Girón says:
  December 25, 2008 at 11:07 pm
  John, rivers made from blue cellphane; wow, that’s a good idea. 😉
  Reply
Claudia says:
December 25, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Que bonito nacimiento – my cousin is visiting us from San Lucas, Guatemala and coincidentally she brought us a nacimiento – it is made of clay – no colors, but beautiful nonetheless, I also got a keyholder with what else? A La Antigua background, along with some Guatemalan bread (is it my imagination or are Ojaldras getting bigger?), queso de capas (cheese), dulces tipicos, tamalitos de chipilin – I think I had 3 for breakfast 3 days in a row. Thank you for your beautiful pictures and all the work you put into this site. Truly, I think there are a lot of people who appreciate it. You are very good @ what you do (and that’s not lip service). Here’s hoping the new year brings much health, tranquility and family unity, without these, $$ does not matter. Cheese and cliche but very true. (help! I’m turning into my parents!) Muchos abrazos – and please take a big sniff of cuete powder smell for me. (I’m somewhat of a pyro so I love the smell of fireworks) Merry Christmas.
Reply
1. Rudy Girón says:
  December 25, 2008 at 11:09 pm
  @Claudia, it seems you’ve got a visit from a Guatemalan rey mago and he brought all kinds of goodies. Bon appetite!
  Btw, thanks for your kinds words and feedback.
  Reply
Lynette Hanson says:
December 25, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Happy holidays to you and yours from Mama, Duncan, Lamont, Leland, Kailey and me in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Reply

Guatemalan Christmas Decorations: El Nacimiento

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply