The month of December gives us the opportunity to celebrate some old and some new traditions locally with our family, friends and neighbors.

With Reno’s large Latino community, many local families celebrate important holidays in the winter.

Families get together and have special celebrations, cook tasty foods, and break out their favorite holiday music. What each of these look like tends to be different with every family, and is typically heavily influenced by where you’re from. This article will explore some of these interesting differences in how people from different Latin American countries celebrate during this time of year. We’ll start with Latinos in Reno and then compare and contrast with other countries’ celebrations.

Vicente Estrada, a resident of Northern Nevada, who’s been living in the area since 1979, was willing to share insight into his families’ traditions. Estrada was born in Mexico City and grew up in Tijuana, before moving to just outside of Reno. Estrada mentioned about how there were even differences in the celebrations within different parts of Mexico.

He described, for example, a huge celebration that happens locally during December is that of the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He told me people stay up all night or wake up very early in the morning to gather at the local churches, where they are provided with traditional food. The whole time there is singing and praying to commemorate the catholic saint. 

We also spoke of if there are posadas in Reno, which is a nine-day festival popular in Mexico. The posadas consist of caroling house to house seeking shelter, emulating the journey of Mary and Joseph. Estrada told me it’s too cold for that here, however, his family does do something similar.

“I have a big family.” he told me. “So everybody gets together, one celebrates Monday, the other one Tuesday, Wednesday to pray to baby Jesus.” He went on to tell me that they will alternate who hosts each day, and how everyone has their own unique nativity scenes to pray to. “It’s almost the same thing (as posadas)” he told me.

Finally, Estrada also shared with me the popular food and music from this time of year.

For food, he listed three mainstays- tamales, buñuelos and pozole. In terms of music, Estrada said of course it depends on who you are and where you’re coming from. He says if you’re from Mexican states like Aguascalientes or Sinaloa you might like Tamborazo around this time of year. For Estrada, its mariachi, “and that’s it”.

Although most Latinos in Reno are of Mexican descent, it’s important to recognize that not all Latinos celebrate this time in the same ways.

For example, for those who celebrate Christmas, there are a lot of differences in how people from different countries celebrate the “Nochebuena”, the day before Christmas. For some countries it’s even more important than Christmas day. In countries like the Dominican Republic, if they can, families go to the Midnight Mass that begins at midnight on December 25. Dominicans do not usually give gifts until Three Kings Day, January 6.

There are also differences in holiday terminology, like for example in Colombia, where Santa Claus is instead called “Niño Dios”.

Food will always differ too. In Venezuela, Pan de Jamon, a bread filled with ham, raisins, and olives is a Christmas staple. Or if you’re from Argentina, it is very popular to have an asado or barbecue, and you might find yourself eating a lot of pork, veal, and steak. Holiday drinks are always unique as well, with places like Guatemala being famed for their ponche de frutas, a hot punch filled with fruit and spices.

Finally, of course depending on where you’re from, your family may be celebrating with different kinds of music. In Puerto Rico and Venezuela, aguinaldo is particularly popular, which is a holiday genre usually performed by groups of friends and families with maracas and drums. Or some countries like a little faster pace like the Dominican Republic, where Johnny Ventura’s famous Salsa Pa’ Tu Lechon became a Christmas anthem.

So happy holidays to all, and whether your personal celebrations have a lot in common with these, or have nothing in common at all, it is always good to be aware of these differences.

The holidays are a time of giving, and taking time to understand and appreciate each other’s differences is always a great gift to give.