As we get closer to the holiday season, it’s important to know how the San Dimas community is celebrating. San Dimas is filled with thousands of people who are beginning to get into the holiday spirit, drinking hot peppermint drinks, hanging Christmas lights around the house, and buying gifts for loved ones. The community is filled with many different traditions, so continue reading to find out how the community is celebrating this holiday season.
At San Dimas High School, many students are excited about their annual holiday events and to continue with their holiday spirit. San Dimas High Senior, Alicia Soto is excited to celebrate Christmas this year by spending all of Christmas Eve at her grandma’s house to make Tamales and play games with family. On Christmas Eve, all the preparation is made for the day and the entire family participates in their annual tradition, “el Intercambio,” a gift exchange between the extended family. After the gift exchange, the Soto family dances and plays Loteria. Soto exclaims that Tamales and Pozole are her favorite foods that remind her of the holidays and her culture. Soto states that she “loves being able to celebrate the holidays surrounded by over 30 of her family members.”
San Dimas High School Senior, Julia Elfahl celebrates the holiday season very in touch with both of her cultures, focusing on her Mexican Heritage as well as her Lebanese heritage. When Elfahl is with her Lebanese side of her family she eats traditional Lebanese food such as shawarma and baklava. Every year Elfahl’s family opens their gifts at midnight on Christmas Eve and then opens the rest of them the next morning. Elfahl claims that she “loves having the touches of both cultures since it is what makes my holidays as that’s how I’ve grown up” She also explained that the holidays help her to feel more connected to her Lebanese culture and she hopes to keep these traditions alive as she grows older.
In addition, High School senior, Kayla Rodriguez celebrates the holiday season by partaking in an annual tea house with her extended family. Rodriguez exclaimed that she believes “it is important to be with your family on the holidays” so to exemplify this value, the Rodriguez family goes to tea every year and meets up at a tea house in Pasadena wearing fancy clothes. At the tea house, her family partakes in a huge gift exchange. The gift exchange is a pretty big deal to the Rodriguez family because every year during the gift exchange aunts and uncles play about who’s gift will be opened by the children in the family.
Overall, San Dimas is filled with many people who celebrate the holiday in numerous different ways, but a common overlapping theme is the fact that everyone believes the holidays are to feel connected and to spread kindness through gift-giving or even just visiting people! So as you begin to plan your holiday events be sure not to forget to spread holiday cheer and possibly take inspiration from these stories.
