Julia Clarete on Noche Buena

COURTESY OF JULIA CLARETE

My son Sebastian and I put up the tree together as part of our bonding. Every year, we have the same traditional decor. For Noche Buena, our family usually prepares the dishes together: arroz caldo, chicken macaroni salad, ham and hors d’oeuvres.

We eat dinner early, but we have lots of snacks in between. We pray together before having Noche Buena.

We wake up Sebastian at midnight and play parlor games and exchange gifts—with our helpers and driver joining in the fun.

Then we eat again! It’s pretty much a lot of eating and eating!

Media Noche is similar, plus we observe some New Year’s rituals like coin-shaking, noise-making, champagne-spraying and some fireworks.

We play games on New Year’s Day.