Second generations celebrate Christmas

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Imane, 25 lives between Milan and Rome. Sara, 21, dreams of becoming Milan’s top marketing manager. Miriem is a PHd student in Italian philology and lives in Pavia. Ouejdane is a researcher at the Politecnico in Milan and is 31. Rassmea, 25, studies Islamic studies at the Orientale in Naples. Five Italian girls, but with a difference – their origins are firmly rooted south of the Mediterranean, in Muslim Middle East. They like to be called “new Italians”, even though they are more often defined as second generation immigrants, a category that includes a whole spectrum of young people – from adopted children, to children of mixed marriages, to those who were born abroad and moved abroad with their families and those who were born in one place but whose parents come from another.

 

On December 8, while the Catholic world celebrated the Immaculate conception, these five young new Italians celebrated Aid El-Adha, the festival of sacrifice that remembers the day in which the prophet Abraham demonstrated his obedience to God by sacrificing his son Ismail. And on December 25 they celebrated once again – if Christmas in their countries of origin is nothing but a big friendly red grandfather, in Italy they will be dragged into participating to all the rituals, from high street shopping for presents to the preparation of elaborate (but perhaps original) meals.

 

VitaEurope decided to investigate what it means to be a new Italian in Italy at Christmas by finding out how Imane, Meriem, Sara, Ouejdane and Rassmea combine this tradition with their Arab Islamic roots. 

 

Do you celebrate Christmas?

Imane: Yes, I do celebrate Christmas, with my family, with the people I love. It’s an intimate moment, a wonderful opportunity for all of us to be together and share the special Christmas atmosphere. When I was living in Morocco we used to eat “Buche du Noel”, a typical French sweet that is typical at Christmas. It’s a rolled-up sponge cake in the shape of a tree trunk with butter cream on the inside but we used to personalize it by adding chocolate, hazelnut or coffee.

 

Sara: My family is half Egyptian and half Sudanese, we are all Muslim, so we don’t celebrate on the 25th December but I exchange presents with my friends just for fun. Even though my friends know that I do not celebrate Christmas they often invite me to their traditional lunch. The menu? Lasagna, capon, turkey, pandoro and other Italian sweets. I always take them my favorite Egyptian sweets.

 

Meriem: Before moving to Italy from Tunisia 7 years ago, Christmas for me was just a tree and a big man called Santa Claus. But when I started to travel all around Europe I began to appreciate it and to dream of celebrating it! I started to pay more attention to the different Christmas traditions unique to each region until finally one day I was invited to share it with an Italian family from Sardinia. I prepared some cous cous and a tajine with lamb for the occasion. Now that I am used to it,  I simply couldn’t celebrate it alone because it would be far too sad! But when I’m in Tunisia I don’t celebrate it.

 

Ouejdane: Before my marriage I used to go back to Tunisia, where my family is from, for the Christmas holiday period. During my first years in Italy it was quite difficult to live this period without celebrating Christmas as everybody exchanges gifts and people didn’t know how to behave with me because of my different religion. The change came when I decided to participate to the celebrations by sending an sms to all my Italian friends to wish them a happy Christmas. The first step was done and I officially entered into the list of people to send wishes to.

 

Rassmea: Even though I am Muslim, because my father is Egyptian, on Christmas Eve I go with my mother, who is Italian, to church because I think that spirituality goes beyond religion. On Christmas day the Italian family gets together to share Christmas lunch with all the typical ingredients of a Southern Italian pranzo di natale.

 

Do you exchange Christmas gifts with anyone?

I: Well, I wouldn’t call them gifts but tokens. It’s always nice to know that someone’s thinking about you! I’ve never asked Santa Claus to bring me presents … actually, when I was young I didn’t really know what his “job” was, if I had I would have definitely demanded presents from him, even though I’m not Christian! In Morocco Papa Noel is everywhere in December, behind shop windows and children love to have their picture taken with him.

 

M: I exchange presents with all my friends for both Islamic and Christian festivities.

 

O: Yes, with all my friends, both Christian and Muslim. I like to prepare handmade objects and cards but I can’t say what they will be this year as it is a surprise!

 

R: I only give presents to the people who I expect to receive presents from! So at Christmas I give presents to my Italian friends and family and at the end of Ramadan I give them to my Islamic friends and family.

 

Crèche or Christmas tree?

I: Neither. The only thing we acquired as a Christmas tradition is the advent calendar. You know, when it comes to chocolate, who can refuse?

 

M: The first time I helped someone prepare a Christmas tree was for me a great moment of joy and happiness. But the most beautiful part of Christmas is the crèche, especially the tradition to add something new every year and hand make little nativity statues. I love the camels, goats and other animals and like to keep them as lucky charms.

 

O: Since I was a child in Tunisia I was always fascinated by Christmas trees – the red and green decorations and, of course, by the snow. Now I can celebrate it with my husband and his family, who are Italian. Last week we celebrated the Aid El Kebir, the festival of sacrifice, while we were decorating the house with a complete nativity scene.

 

R: At home neither. But in the future I will definitely have a crèche in my home as after having been to Naples, where the tradition is still very alive, I realised how beautiful it is.

 

Christmas recipes?

I: As Christmas does not really belong to our religious feasts, we do not celebrate it completely. We do exchange greetings but we don’t really follow gastronomic traditions. We often choose to cook a special Moroccan tajine that mom prepares just for special occasions.

 

O: This Christmas is a very special one for me and for my husband as we will receive all of his family at home – I will be the cook. We thought to mix tradition with what he calls “eccentric dishes”, meaning Arabic ones. Their family never celebrate Christmas without mom’s capon, but it will be the first year that they will eat Arabic mezedes like Bab Ghanouche, taboulé, hummus and Tunisian brik.

 

R: Fusion cuisine! The main dishes are strictly Italian – home made pasta, lamb and capon – while the bread, hors-d’oeuvre and drinks are Egyptian.