Page 54 - Unforgettable Memories in Life_Neat

52 The Unforgettable Moments in Life

Christmas

By Daniela Santillan-Araujo

I look around the rancho in La Caja, Mexico
and all I can see are old houses with rusty doors.
On the sidewalks, old people walk around, some
stand outside of the store. There are a lot of dogs
in the streets and on top of houses, just barking
as people walk past.
When I get to the middle of the rancho, I see
a lot of people by the campo (soccer field). On
the left side there are a lot of old men that aren't
from here and on the right side there are young
men and middle-aged men screaming. The
soccer game is starting. I can see my Aunt Lidia
selling food and drinks for the crowd. They didn't let me go inside the campo because I am only
13 years old. You must be 15 years old in order to go in with the crowd. I have to look in from
the outside.
As I walk down the street, I see my Great Grandpa Pedro at my great grandma's house
and my uncle's wife putting up the nacimiento (birth) to celebrate Jesus’ birth. I ran to my
Grandma Antonia’s house to see if she was doing the same thing. She is doing the same thing, so
I helped her put everything up. I get the fireworks from the tall dresser so that when the
nacimiento is done, we can fire them up to let everyone know that we have finished with the
nacimiento de Jesus. Also, I help her get baby Jesus down from the dresser, I get a warm cloth
and help clean and dress up baby Jesus, so they can be ready when the kids come and give
kisses.
The guys visit the house on the 24th and the girls visit on the 25th of December. We do
it like this to make sure everyone gets an equal amount of candy bags or oranges. At 8:00 pm we
wait for the adults and kids so they can kiss baby Jesus then we can give them a candy bag or
oranges. Since we don't get presents in Mexico, we go around from house to house to get candy
bags. Once I get back home, I sit on the bed with a bag over the bed so it won't get dirty. I
separate the candy, oranges, and crackers from each other so that the crackers won't go bad. I
also check if all the candies are sealed well or opened.
After I am done separating everything, it hits 12 am and we all have to sleep. My Uncle
Daniel stays outside drinking and eating tamales right next to the fire with my Uncle Martin. I
usually stay up for a little bit with my Aunt Alvi, but right after, I go to sleep because we have to
wake up at 7 am. That’s Christmas with my family in Mexico.