Latin American Christmas

Yes, the Peruvians attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve and then stay up the rest of the night feasting. It's June and January in many Latin American countries where Christmas day occurs in the midst of the warm season.

Such weather is perfect for boating excursions, parades and bullfights and outdoor feasts are most popular. It is on Christmas Eve that the religious aspects of the season are observed. In many Latin American households, the family has built a replica of the manger of Bethlehem, complete with tiny figures representing Mary and Joseph, the wise men, the shepherds and

the angels. On Christmas Eve, the figure of the Christ child is added to the manger. Customs vary in each country of Latin America, but carol singing plays a role in every Christmas celebration. The Latins wind up their seasonal holidays on December 28th, with Holy Innocence Day, which is a sort of April Fool's Day on which Marymaking goes wild.

The children's pranks started off, but the adults too engage in all manner of practical jokes. Coincidental with the Latin Americans' love for fun and gaiety is his basic respect for the religious significance of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of the Galilean who taught that all men have problems.

And now the...