Noche Buena & Reyes

Tonight is Noche Buena. the literal translation of that is good night, but of course it corresponds to Christmas Eve in the US and many other English speaking countries. This is the most important part of the Christmas holidays. Think of it as the Dominican Thanksgiving. Lots of food is prepared, everyone eats to their hearts content, and it is an important family time. There are family reunions, and a large amount of the population in the capital and other major cities will travel to their hometowns for the occaision.

One very popular song here, around Christmas time, is Feliz Navidad, by José Feliciano. People sing it, with both the English and Spanish parts, as best they can, much like the Dominican birthday song is often followed by a rendition of the somewhat English Hapi burtday tu yu. Meanwhile, my compatriots across the water are singing the same song, only they are butchering the Spanish part!

¡Feliz navidad!

While in the US, children are tucked in bed on Christmas eve, to await Christmas morning with excitement, Dominican children still have a while to wait. Christmas morning does not bring gifts. Instead, the sixth of January, King's Day, is when they will receive their gifts. This special day remembers the kings who brought gifts to the child Jesus.

An interesting thing is happening this year, that gives a little insight on how things work here. The government has been changing a lot of holidays, depending on how they fall, to make things more convenient for work and education, mostly creating three day weekends.  In the case of King's day this year, the 6th falls on a Wednesday. Normally the school holiday extends through the seventh, recognizing that many people are traveling back home from their native towns on that day, and would not be back in time for school. But this year, that would mean coming back from a three week break for a single school day. The weekend would follow. They are well aware that no one would bother to attend that day.

So they had the idea to change the holiday to Monday, the fourth of January. This means that the teachers are expected back on the fifth, and the students on the real King's Day! You can be assured that no one will be returning to classes till Monday the 11th, no matter what the government says. It just won't happen. In fact, it is quite common for Dominican students to take an extra week of vacation after both Holy Week and Christmas breaks, without permission. The teachers may return, but the student population will be missing.

This would be comparable to telling Americans, "This year we are moving Christmas day to the 23rd!" Who would listen?  It was obviously done with good intentions, and it would have been nice, were it possible, so that the students would not miss so much school.  In my informal survey of neighbors and friends, most were not even aware of it, and once informed, proclaimed that they were sure no one would go, and they certainly were not sending their children.

¡Feliz año nuevo from This Dominican Life!