It's Christmas eve in Nicaragua (and, I suppose, elsewhere too). My host family -- Bosco, his mother Doña Rosario, his two daughters Seylma and Daniela, and Seylma's daughter Jaime -are getting ready for the big midnight celebration. Mostly this means preparing food. Vegetables are being chopped,chicken is being shredded and cooked, and of course, the rice and beans are being prepared for the pot.
We'll have a small meal at six this evening, but the main meal will be at midnight. There will also be backyard fireworks of the kind that used to be used in Canada before they became illegal, and a certain amount of rum. This is the city, after all, where drinking isn't seen in quite the negative light it is in the country, though drinking to excess is still strongly frowned upon in general.
We'll just have a little rum, probably mixed with something after the first toast.
Based on my observations from last year, there won't be a gift exchange, but there will be a lot of well-wishing, and family members (along with many friends) will stop by during the evening to wish everyone a feliz navidad.
Tomorrow, the streets of Estelí will be rolled up -- that is, everything will be closed but the church and maybe one or two of the little shops with owners more eager than most to make a sale. There will, however, be a hymn sing later in the week, and a religious procession through the streets of Estelí with the sanctified Host held aloft in a special, very ornate ... well, I suppose you'd have to call it a 'host holder', though I'm sure it has a better name than that. I really must ask.
Here we have a picture of Estelí, taken at about 1 PM on Friday, December 24, 2004. Feliz Navidad, everyone.
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