We’ve entered autumn, the season when people put pumpkins on their front lawns and get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. It is also the time when people are already getting excited about Christmas and the New Year. Many of my friends have already begun talking about how they typically celebrate the holidays. In these conversations, I think about my traditions and I realize how different they are. Being a “third culture kid” — someone raised outside her parents’ country of origin — I have been able to experience various forms of celebration in my home. When my family was living in Italy over 10 years ago, for example, on the last Sunday of every November, my mom would invite many friends over to have a big meal with roasted turkey, different kinds of mashed potatoes, and a lot of pie. Initially, the guests didn’t realize that they were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving!
I remember always getting excited when December came — Christmas was getting close! In Madrid, where I lived for ten years, I would ask my friends what plans they had for December 25. I was shocked at first when they would say, “My family doesn’t do much because we celebrate ‘Los Reyes Magos.’” Instead of celebrating Christmas on December 25, many Spaniards celebrate Epiphany, a holiday that honors the wise men who were said to have visited Jesus shortly after his birth, on January 6. Although we have been living in Spain for some time now, my family has continued our Italian tradition of celebrating Christmas with the typical dishes of orecchiette pasta with homemade lamb ragú.
After Christmas, people start thinking about their New Year’s Resolutions. I remember my first time celebrating New Year’s in Madrid. My mom and I went grocery shopping and as we looked through the store to find what we needed, we saw an entire aisle with bags of seedless grapes for sale. Every person who went down the aisle would reach and grab at least one bag. I asked my mom if it was grape season, and she was puzzled as well. Only on New Year’s Eve did we find out the significance of grapes for the Spaniards. We were at a friend’s house, and she followed Spanish traditions. Just before midnight hit, everyone would get a cup with exactly 12 grapes. I was very confused at first: why was dessert twelve grapes and not cookies or cake or something else? Once everyone had a cup, she explained to us the Spanish tradition of eating one grape for every time the bell rang once the clock struck midnight. Apparently, many Spanish people do this in the hopes that it will bring them good luck in the twelve months of the new year.
Thinking back on my varied holiday memories, I laugh at how different our traditions may seem to others. This collage of traditions from different cultures shows where I’ve been and what I’ve learned. The cultural mix reflects my journey and helps me better understand who I am and where I came from: I am a girl who has lived in 3 different countries (France, Italy and Spain), with an Italian father and an American mother.
