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The Day It Snowed In Puerto Rico

The Day it Snowed in Puerto Rico

Arbolito de Navidad - Christmas Tree
Esta noche es noche Buena / Tonight is Christmas Eve
Vamos al monte hermanito / Let's go to the hill little brother
A cortar un arbolito / To cut a tree
Hoy que la noche es serena / In this serene night
Los Reyes y los pastores / The shepperds and the Wise Men
Andan siguiendo una estrella / Go following a star
Le cantan a Jesús Niño / They sing hymns to Baby Jesus
Hijo de la Virgen bella. / Son of the beautiful Virgin
Arbolito, Arbolito / Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree
Campanitas te pondré / Golden bells I'll hang on you
Quiero que seas bonito / I want you to look so pretty
Que al Recién Nacido te voy a ofrecer / For I will offer you the the New Born
Iremos por el camino, / We will go through the path
Caminito de Belén / The path that takes us to Bethlehem
Iremos porque esta noche / We will go for this night
Ha nacido el Niño Rey / The King Child was born
Villancico (Christmas Carol) composed by Colombian writer José Barros

The chilling gusts opened the windows of the house. Doña Dolores got up quickly from the sofa looking like a weird bundle all wrapped in heavy clothes and quilts. She tripped all the way to the window across the living area. The woman managed to take her hands out of her warming pockets to push the blinds and finally locked them. Doña Dolores turned around to face her husband that was shaking sitting on the sofa as he struggled to press the buttons of the remote control.

"I don't know how much longer we could stand this frío pelú (terrible cold), José. It's terrible! What they say on the weather about it?" The woman walked slowly to the sofa and sat next to her husband on the couch.

"Oh, they say it's a frente frío (winter frontal system) that will last for a few more days. It looks all white and cloudy on the radar. They could barely see the island through it. It's the first time temperature get this low in the tropics... they all blame global warming."

"Oh, yes, that's impressive. This means only one thing José and that's for sure... Cristo viene pronto... Esto se tiene que acabar." (Christ will come soon... The end is near) The woman waved her hands frantically in complain but quickly she put them back into her pockets.

"Ay Dolores! The things you say! God don't want to come this soon... not with this weather."

The sound of laughing children invaded the living area. Two boys came playing with some toys, dressed in heavy coats to drop by their parents' feet.

"Mamá! Mamá! Can we go outside to cut a tree?" Cried one of the kids, the smaller one.

"A tree, Pablo? Why would you want to cut a tree?" The father asked looking confused to his son.

"Yes papá, please! We can bring a nice Violeta tree to decorate for Christmas." The older boy spoke.

"But Juan... a tree from the hill? Why don't we put the beautiful artificial pine tree that we put in here every year?"

"But Mamá, look! It's cold outside... like the winter in North America. It would snow!" said Pablo pointing outside the window very excited in a childish manner.

"Snow? It will never snow in Puerto Rico Pablo. We are in the tropics... in the Caribbean. That's impossible!"

"No it's not! I know it will snow!" said little Pablo.