Vivian, Thanks for the beautiful e-mail about Christmas in Goa. My grand-niece, Simone Britto, lives in Seattle. She has to tell the class about Christmas in Goa. Your e-mail is the perfect answer. Yes! do kindly send me digital pictures of stars and grottoes and other Christmas decor in Goa. Her class would love it! Meanwhile, Have a wonderful Christmas season in Goa, lucky you. Filomena
--- Vivian D'Souza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Filomena Geise asked on behalf of her grandniece, > how > Christmas is celebrated in Goa. > Having lived in the USA for over 3 decades, and now > living in Goa, I find Christmas quite and > refreshingly > different in Goa. > > Christmas in Goa is more Christ-centered. Children > love to make christmas grottos in their house. It > is > delightful to see how creative the little children > are > in decorating their grottoes. There is a great > reverence for the Christ child. > > One does not see Christmas trees in Goa, except at > places like 5-star hotels which put up synthetic > trees > all decorated and lighted up. Instead of Christmas > trees lighted stars are hung on balconies, > signifying > the star that led the Magi to Bethlehem and Christ's > birth place in the manger. In our younger days we > made > stars(some still do) with strips of bamboo, and > stretched white paper over the star, and put a light > in the star and hung it from our balconies. > Nowadays > one can buy all kinds of readymade stars that > provide > a colorful display, when a light bulb is placed > inside > and it is hung out on the balcony. Many homes put up > strings of colored lights, but not as extensively as > I > used to see in the USA. > > The Christmas spirit comes late to Goa. Unlike the > US > and England where the stores and Malls are decorated > with Christmas decorations as early as October, here > one does not see many decorations until > mid-December. > One does not feel the pressure to give everyone a > gift > at Christmas, except perhaps a little toy to the > young > ones in one's own family. Instead, we bake and fry > and stir all kinds of goodies, like Neuris, Kalkals, > Bebinca, Dodol, etc. We send plates of goodies to > our > Hindu neighbors who unfailingly had sent us goodies > for Ganesh and Diwali which precedes Christmas by a > couple of months. Thank God we do not have the > January > blues that often result from over-spending for Gifts > at Christmas ! > > People visit each other at Christmas. Of course it > is > quite warm during the day, but when one attends the > Midnight mass, it is cool, as nights and early > mornings are quite cool in December. > On Christmas day itself, at our church in Socorro, > the > Catholic Youth Group organizes a party/sports day in > the afternoon, with all kinds of party games, > usually > followed by Bingo. An enjoyable time is had by all. > Sometimes Father Christmas (as Santa Claus is called > here), makes his appearance. > > Filomena, I am so glad that your grand niece is > thinking of Goa and how Christmas is celebrated > here. > If you need any more information or digital > pictures, > feel free to send me a private E-Mail. > > Vivian A. D'Souza > > ########################################################################## > # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > # > # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), > and avoid top-posts # > # More details on Goanet at > http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # > # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to > reflect respect to others # > ########################################################################## __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
