Santa Clause in Chile has the persona of Viejito Pascuero or Papa Noel. With November coming around, Santiago is beginning to burst with summer Christmas. At one of our nearby malls, Open Kennedy, the kids and I waited for Katie outside of a store while she finished some secret Christmas shopping. In the central area of the mall, likely where Papa Noel and his elves will soon welcome children, Wilson noticed all of the prop letters in prop mailboxes were addressed to Santa, who lived in Antarctica, not at the North Pole.
It makes sense that Chileans would associate jolly Papa Noel as living at the polar cap closest to them, though it had not crossed my mind before Wilson spotted the letters.
Since we leave for Antarctica in December, this makes for a special trip. At Christmas, we’re going to where Santa lives, as least as believed by Chilean children.
It also makes me wonder. How far north from Chile do you need to travel to find the place where children associate Santa with the North Pole, not the South Pole?
Share your comments...