<\/p>\n
Christmas in Jacmel by Mayte Vizcaino<\/p>\n
A Canadian girl, an American boy and I, exchanged points of views on little Christmas celebration here. Whatever the reason is, the fact is that it is not particularly celebrated. On December 24, at the office, I was surprised that people continued in \u00abwork mode\u00bb until quite late and no one made a different goodbye for the fact that it was Christmas Eve. On the street, on the way home, people did their normal life, sat on the doors of their houses, washing, running errands, children playing,… no indication that today was a special day. Neither the 25 changes were noticed: shops open, people on the street, … as always. Only increasing influx to church is perceived as a novelty these days. I guess in other areas, the upper middle class or specific families, Christmas is lived differently and includes gifts, but my neighbors and the area where I live do not celebrate, or not significantly.<\/p>\n
On Sylvester, party could be noticed, particularly among young people. Close to midnight, in bars and stalls the music was loud and the bodies moved sensuously at its rhythm. People talked, cried and sang, they wished \u00abbonne ann\u00e9e\u00bb. So, the New Year\u2019s Eve promoted throng at certain points and a party sensation that indicates it was a different night.<\/p>\n
On January 1, New Year Day and more than that in Haiti, the Independence Day is held. Women prepare a soup of French origin called \u201csoupe joumou\u201d, made mainly with a fruit of the gourd family. The origin of this food is in the time of slavery, when the French tasted this appreciated recipe prepared by domestic slaves, who were forbidden to eat it. In 1804, the year of Haitian independence, its proud inhabitants prepared and tested that soup which were\u00a0hitherto denied and instituted as a commemorative food of liberty. Today, 209 years later, my neighbors came to offer me, as is tradition, the dish that celebrates its independence.<\/p>\n
And I add one more day of celebration because in Haiti on January 2 marks the day of the ancestors. It is about to remember those who proclaim the independence of Haiti, and to those who sacrificed their lives during the struggle for independence in the early nineteenth century. In my January 2, 2013, the reality is that I saw no celebration: I went to the market, my neighbors came home a while, there were people in the office, ….Navidad en Jacmel\u00a0 por Mayte Vizcaino<\/p>\n
Intercambi\u00e1bamos opiniones el otro d\u00eda una chica canadiense, un chico estadounidense y yo sobre la poca celebraci\u00f3n de la Navidad aqu\u00ed.\u00a0 Sea por lo que sea, lo real es que no se celebra especialmente.\u00a0 Saliendo de la oficina el 24 de diciembre me sorprendi\u00f3 que la gente siguiera en \u201cmodo work\u201d hasta bastante tarde y que nadie hiciera una despedida diferente por eso de ser nochebuena. En la calle, de camino a casa, la gente hacia su vida normal, sentados en las puertas de sus casas, haciendo recados, jugando los ni\u00f1os, lavando, \u2026 nada indicaba que hoy fuera un d\u00eda especial. Tampoco el 25 se notaban cambios: tiendas abiertas, gente en la calle,\u2026 como siempre. Solo el aumento de afluencia a la iglesia se percibe como novedad estos d\u00edas. Supongo que en otras zonas, entre la clase media-alta o en familias concretas, la Navidad se vive de otra manera e incluye regalos, pero mis vecinos, mi calle y barrio en general no festej\u00f3, o no de manera notable.<\/p>\n
El d\u00eda 31 si se not\u00f3 un poco m\u00e1s de fiesta, principalmente entre los j\u00f3venes.\u00a0 A partir de cierta hora, cercana a la media noche, en bares y puestecillos la m\u00fasica sonaba con fuerza y los cuerpos se mov\u00edan sensualmente a su ritmo. Hablaban, gritaban y cantaban, se deseaban \u201cbonne ann\u00e9e\u201d. As\u00ed, el cambio de a\u00f1o promueve la afluencia a ciertos puntos y un estado festivo que indican que era una noche diferente.<\/p>\n
El 1 de enero, adem\u00e1s de A\u00f1o Nuevo, y m\u00e1s que eso, se celebra en Hait\u00ed el D\u00eda de la Independencia. Las mujeres preparan una sopa de origen franc\u00e9s conocida como sopa de joumou, un fruto de la familia de las calabazas. El origen de esta comida est\u00e1 en la \u00e9poca de la esclavitud, cuando los franceses saboreaban esta apreciada receta preparada por las esclavas dom\u00e9sticas, que sin embargo ten\u00edan prohibido comerla. En 1804, a\u00f1o de la independencia haitiana, sus orgullosos habitantes prepararon y probaron esa sopa hasta entonces negada y la instauraron como plato conmemorativo de su libertad. Hoy, 209 a\u00f1os despu\u00e9s, mis vecinos vinieron a ofrecerme, como es tradici\u00f3n, el plato que conmemora su independencia.<\/p>\n
Y a\u00f1ado un d\u00eda m\u00e1s de fiesta porque en Hait\u00ed el 2 de enero se celebra el d\u00eda de los ancestros. Se trata de recordar a quienes lograron proclamar la independencia haitiana, a aquellos que sacrificaron sus vidas durante la lucha por la independencia en los primeros a\u00f1os del siglo XIX. En mi 2 de enero de 2013, la realidad es que no vi celebraci\u00f3n, fui al mercado, mis vecinos vinieron a casa un rato, en la oficina hab\u00eda gente, \u2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christmas in Jacmel by Mayte Vizcaino A Canadian girl, an American boy and I, exchanged points of views on little Christmas celebration here. Whatever the reason is, the fact is that it is not particularly celebrated. On December 24, at the office, I was surprised that people continued in \u00abwork mode\u00bb until quite late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-haiti","tag-christmas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n