HOLIDAYS

 

WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE!

Being close to the holidays and having just passed thanksgiving, we will talk about Italian traditions and how I have experienced these holidays since I have lived in the United States. In Italy, there are common traditions, where Italians have distinct types of traditions for the holidays and then there are the traditions that every family or municipality has. There are some holidays that are not celebrated in Italy, such as Thanksgiving. When I was little, I always heard about Thanksgiving and Black Friday on the news, but I never imagined celebrating it, yet here I am, three Thanksgivings later. During Thanksgiving, they always broadcast the Macy's parade on TV in Italy, and for the first time in my life, I was able to watch the parade in person in 2019. I had lots of emotions: I was very happy, incredulous, enthusiastic, all at the same time. I was lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving with two families. I spent the first year with my Host Family. We ate the typical meal: turkey. After that, we played board games and spent the evening with the family. This year I spent it with my boyfriend's family. It was a different Thanksgiving because there were no children and therefore, we did not play board games, but it was still very harmonious and in the family. After Thanksgiving comes my favorite holiday: Christmas. As already mentioned in the post where I talk about food, at Christmas we Italians have only one rule: EAT. If we want to see the appearance of the gifts, then Christmas is divided into 3. In my country, we celebrate Santa Lucia. This tradition takes place in the night between the 12th and 13th of December. Tradition has it that on the evening of December 12th, all the children take to the square to watch the passage of Santa Lucia, then go home, prepare cookies, milk, and carrots on the window, and then all go to sleep. On the morning of December 13th, available outside my room, I would find a strip of candy and chocolates that would then lead me to the toys. Every year the toys are in different places, for example, I remember finding them above the washing machine, in the kitchen, in my parents' room. Then comes Christmas, where Santa leaves his presents under the tree between the 24th and the 25th. A tradition that we do not have is the elf that appears at the beginning of December and "moves" around the house every night to check on the children in anticipation of Santa's arrival. I was lucky enough to experience this tradition with my host family. It was always exciting and good to see my host kids looking for the elf around the house every morning before breakfast. Unfortunately, I have never celebrated the exact day of Christmas with them, but this year will be my first year and I can't wait for Christmas. For the first time, I will have the stocking with my name on it and I'm super excited. I literally can't wait. A detail that I loved when Santa Lucia or Santa Claus arrived was to find gifts even at the home of my grandparents or uncles. After all these holidays we have the arrival of the Befana, who brings some small gifts and lots and lots of chocolate.