The Christmas Spirit: El espíritu de la Navidad

"Tienes que probar el tamales. Son muy deliciosos3."

She was right, only delicious did not do them justice. The tamales were really out of this world, as was the rest of the feast. And she should know. Veronica Castro made every one of them by hand and carefully delivered them from Bend driving through the cold and snow for this party Sunday evening at St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church, not a usual delivery for a traditional Christmas Posada.

A mixture of English and Spanish floated through the air. Many sentences started in one language and ended in another. The speaker's roots might have as easily been Irish as Guatemalan - a truly American Christmas celebration.

This may not be the America our grandparents knew, but this is the America our children know. As our country fuses together the cultures of our grandfathers, so it does many of our traditions.

The Christmas Posadas of Latin America have adapted as well. Traditionally the nine days of Christmas preceding Christmas eve are a rotating series of "posadas," a series of events where guests will travel each night in a procession to houses, knocking on doors, asking by song for food and shelter as the peregrino pilgrims Joseph and Mary did just before the birth of Christ.

They are turned away, yet persist in their search, finally being accepted at the third home they visit. The ensuing celebration as they are invited into a home is the festive posada.

With roots in Catholic Spain, the Latin celebration of the Christmas season has retained its original deep religious importance, and lavish gift exchanges have never been a major component although some gifts are given on the Dia del los Reyes on the sixth of January. Today, children of Latin cultures may benefit from the pressures of the commercialization of Christmas that has transpired north of the border as many families will also give gifts on Christmas Day as all the children's friends are receiving them too. They also get nine Christmas parties and lots of cracks at piñatas.

This posada is a fusion of Christmas wreaths and piñatas, gringos and Latinos, English and Spanish, traditional dances and foosball. It is held in a church, but it is a celebration of family and friends.

The audience was mesmerized by the swirling skirts of the traditional dancer being teased by the bandanas of her grovelling suitor. We reveled in watching the twinkle in Dulce's eyes as she sharply pulled the cord, tugging the piñata out of danger from the desperate swings of the light- and dark-haired children. There were squeals of joy as a well-struck blow showered candy about the floor.

Leaving the church turning collars up against the freezing cold and blowing snow, those who attended Sunday's Posada felt a true spirit of Christmas in Sisters.