In Miami, the city of Hispanics and the crib of new generations, it’s easy to get lost in the Hispanic culture. We all tend to ask the fellow Colombian or Nicaraguan how they celebrate Christmas. We touch upon Cuban cultures, Mexican cultures, the multitude of Latin American forms of celebrating Christmas, and we’re unconsciously ignoring the rest of Miami and MLEC.
“Whenever Christmas or holidays come around, I actually don’t mind hearing about how people celebrate. I consider myself very open-minded, and I get sort of curious. I want to learn how other people celebrate,” says Mohammed Faruque, a senior in medical assisting who follows the Muslim religion.
While Hispanics do make up a majority of MLEC, there are also other groups of ethnicities that fill the classrooms. Haitians, Jamaicans, Europeans: the whole attraction of Miami is its diversity and wide spices of culture.
MLEC is no exception to this. What makes MLEC so different is that it holds a little of every culture and every country. To not acknowledge each different culture would almost be a crime.
Each ethnic group brings something different to the table. Different food, different stories, different festivities. In other countries where it’s always hot— such as Australia — Christmas tales get switched up a bit. Reindeer? Too cliche. Kangaroos are much cooler.
Another folklore which focuses on Norway follows spiders and how they decorate a poor widow’s tree with spiderwebs and gold. In India, where traditional Christmas trees are lacking, banana and mango trees make a fine substitute.
“My family doesn’t really do anything to celebrate Christmas. It has no cultural significance because it’s more of an American thing,” informs Elizabeth Cheung, a senior in global who can trace her lineage to China.
Christmas is skipped in Asia, specifically China, and New Years is heavily focused on. Three-day festivals are held in hopes for a prosperous, wonderful new year. Elizabeth’s holidays are focused on moon cakes, red pocket money, and the mid-autumn festival.
The Christian and Catholic method of celebrating Christmas is always in the foreground of traditions that we focus on, due to a large portion of Hispanics being either or, but each ethnic group worships and celebrates differently. Melanie Placencia, a junior in communications, is a practicing Wiccan and can trace those practices deep into her family roots.
“We usually celebrate Yule which is just winter solstice, and we offer daily gifts to the god Odin and the wild hunt. We also do prayers for good fortune and order in the new year. My family cleanses the house with pine smudge and decorates with red and white candles. We usually celebrate “Christmas” on the last twelve days of December,” she explains.
Other religions, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims, don’t celebrate Christmas for religious reasons. While Muslims have a whole different system of worship, Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate due to their varied worship of God. Other popular religions, such as Judaism, also put a spin to the holiday tradition.
Mohammed talks of Muslim traditions– Ramadan, where followers fast for the holiest month of the year. There is no holiday in Muslim tradition that is similar to Christmas. Instead, they take their time to thank Allah for his blessings. Followers of the Muslim religion travel to Mecca to take in the glory of the religious icon.
We can’t forget the flurry of traditions that makes up our diverse community. Remember to say happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas!
