If you thought that Santa Claus was a boring, unchanged character, think again!
Otherwise, how could Santa visit the Brazilian children, when there is no snow, no fireplaces—and consequently no chimneys—and most of the people live in sky-scrappers? Any ideas?
Well, good Ol’ Saint Nicholas found a way.
There are some things in a traditional Brazilian Christmas that are ex-actly the same as here: Santa dresses in his well-known red suit (probably hoping to lose some weight, considering it’s summer and temperatures are bordering 100º F, with humidity above 90%). Just as here, he rides around in his sleigh, despite Mrs. Santa’s suggestion that four-wheelers would make more sense in that climate!
Other traditions, however, are very different:
Christmas trees are always artificial, and even though the decorations are pretty much the same, it is very common to see some cotton spread over the branches, to resemble snow. I heard that it helps Santa feel at home (otherwise, the jolly good fellow, who is used to the North Pole, could experience a little depression in the Brazilian warm December nights).
The most unique tradition, by far, is that Santa visits the Brazilian homes a little earlier, on the night of Christmas Eve. Some people say that he goes earlier so he can have time to visit the Northern Hemisphere before dawn on the 25th!
In Brazil he is known as “Papai Noel”, which translates as Father Christmas, or, more literally Daddy Christmas.
Instead of stockings over the fireplace, the children leave one of their best shoes at the window sill (preferably a window facing the back of their home) so Santa can put the gifts inside (or around them if they are too large!). Luckily, it seems the reindeers have a great sense of smell and can point to Santa which shoe belongs to each child in the house. I have never heard of Santa mixing up presents! Strangely enough, nobody leaves milk or cookies for Santa (I think it has to do with his desire to lose weight, remember?).
The children, excited as they may be, are taken to bed as early as humanly possible, but never after 10PM, while the adults—along with lots of relatives who insist on staying for the evening—eat a hefty meal (something similar to Thanksgiving dinner here).
Exactly at midnight (provided that Santa didn’t get caught in Brazil’s famous traffic jams) the parents wake up the children and watch them run to the window to check what Santa has brought them. They are even allowed to go out and play a little with the neighborhood children and show off their new toys, bikes or games. After a late night snack (the adults always save good portions for the children), they are tired enough to go to bed for good.
Some songs are similar: Silent Night, Away in a Manger and others follow the same tunes. Rudolph, the red-nose reindeer, however, guides the sleigh anonymously, because nobody in Brazil knows that the reindeers have names, and I bet they don’t even know exactly how many reindeer there are all together.
As one would expect, some Christmas songs are typically Brazilian. One favorite tune is also used as lullaby to get children in bed as early as possible on Christmas Eve. It describes the tradition of leaving a shoe in the window (Deixei Meu Sapatinho/I Left my Little Shoe) and goes like this:
Deixei meu sapatinho
Na janela do quintal
Papai Noel deixou
Meu presente de Natal!
Como é que Papai Noel
Não se esquece de ninguém?
Seja rico ou seja pobre
O velhinho sempre vem.
Seja rico ou seja pobre
O velhinho sempre vem.
I left my little shoe
In the window sill, behind
Dear Santa Claus left me
Pretty Christmas gifts inside!
How can it be that old St. Nick
Never skips a child’s home?
To both rich and poor alike
The old man will surely come.
To both rich and poor alike
The old man will always come.
FELIZ NATAL!!!
