Tale Dec 23

Talayero Tales - a commentary about Guam

Feliz Navidad Antes
December 23, 1998

Hoi….

Feliz Navidad yan Feliz Anon Nuebo!

I can remember the simple days of Christmas growing up in this little island of Guahan. The Christmas spirit was so much different back then. Like many of our westernized cousins in the U.S. mainland, Guahan of today has redefined the meaning of Christmas.

I guess a part of becoming a modernized island means we must also sacrifice a little of our culture so as to keep the checks and balances in place. If you ask me, I sure wish we could bring back the Christmas of years past.

Christmas meant allot to me as a child growing up in the early seventies. Coming from a large family of ten siblings, there was more to Christmas than just getting presents. I'm not saying we didn't care for packages under the tree that bore our name, I'm simply trying to stress that Christmas was more a time when the family did special things together.

One must take into consideration the meaning of the word "family" when it comes to Christmas. Blood relation is not necessarily the only ingredient that qualifies a person to belong to a family. A neighbor, godparent (pare' and male'), co-worker & classmate are some examples of the extended family that play a big part in celebrating Christmas.

Celebrating Christmas meant rejoicing in the birth of the Nino (Baby Jesus). In the days leading up to Christmas, the local parishes will assemble the village altar boys to canvas the neighborhood with the Santo Nino in hand along with bells ringing to signifying the coming of the Baby Jesus. The islanders would come out and kiss the Baby Jesus and also place a monetary gift into a box. One of the benefits of accompanying the Nino was the villagers would offer a soft drink and some chips and cookies. If it was close to lunch, rest assured you would be invited to join in the feast!

If you could imagine an ice cream truck with music blaring and people running out of their homes then you have the idea of what type of scene the Nino can cause. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season! Another beautiful compliment to the Nino was the Christmas caroling. In our village of Hagatna, the Academy of Our Lady High School students often boasted between 20 to 50 carolers. The young ladies decorated a flat bed truck with bright lights and with good Christmas cheer visited the hospital and prison.

One of my favorite memories of Christmas was the "Belen" or Nativity Scene. If my memory serves me well, I think almost every home in our street (about 10) had a Nobena (Novena) in honor of the Nino. Part of the preparations into making a "belen" was to go out into the jungles with all the neighborhood kids to select and harvest the "lumot" or green moss that is often found in the thick humid forests. With gunny sacks in hand, the boys would go out in mosquito gear (long sleeved shirts) and collect the moss that cover the rocks. I remember my Auntie Fat (Pat) having the largest scene every year probably requiring over 6 each 50# sacks of lumot. Nowadays the people use fake carpet since it easily stores in the closet and a million mosquitoes need not bite you! If you ask me a belen in traditional setting is no comparison to the modern day green carpet bought at the hardware stores.

In the days preceding Christmas, we would all be playing in the streets when the announcement of the nobena would ring out. The kids would automatically drop what they were doing and run into the home to join in the prayer. I can remember the little kids jockeying for the closest position in front of the Belen so they could blow out the candles after it was over. And who could forget the treats after prayers, boy do I miss those days!

Christmas Day was a happy time for all the kids. Our parents could not afford everything we wanted but gave us enough to make us smile with content! Being a parent of four children, I often wondered how my parents were able to make ends meet. Come to think of it, my Mother would answer that question emphasizing that we keep God in our lives.

The final day of the Nobena fell on different days. Some ended on Christmas Eve, the 25th of December, New Years Eve, others on New years day and finally on The Feast of Three Kings on January 06. The last day of Nobena brought the family together in prayer and musical unison. As a child I anxiously awaited for the songs "dandan I pandaretas" & "kantayi gui" which for some reason inspires the people present to sign with blaring voices and beautiful acapela.

Christmas is still special to me today as I have a wonderful wife and four healthy kids. I'm sure my kids will have special memories of their Christmas so how can I say mine was more fun. It was different indeed but so long as we keep the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts nothing has changed!

Please share a little of your island Christmas memories with our Tales Feedback.

And oh……. Go and get the Tupperware of bonelos dagu in the kitchen and make sure there is enough sugar water and syrup for everyone….

Esta…..

talayero@chamorro.com