Although I was away from home this holiday season, I enjoyed seeing the differences and similarities in how people celebrate- and when.
Christmas Day,
December 25, is celebrated far less here. Christmas Eve –“nochebuena”- is
typically recognized with a family dinner, and maybe a present or two. If the
family is more westernized (and/or more wealthy), Santa Claus might bring the
children a present or two the next morning- something simple and probably
practical like socks... or an umbrella. I was told by a few different people that they didn't really like giving gifts on Christmas Day because it is more of an American tradition, but that they gave their children small gifts simply because the way culture has been changing almost requires it.
 |
| Los Reyes Magos arrive! |
The big day- or BEST DAY(!!!) is actually
the 6th of January, when all the good children are brought gifts by
Los Reyes Magos, or the Three Wise Men. This is in honor of when The Three Wise
Men brought the baby Jesus gifts in the stable and is celebrated by all,
religious or not. However, the festivities of this day actually begin the
afternoon of Jan 5th with a big parade of floats and celebrations of
Los Reyes Magos “arriving” into the city. Every village, town, and pueblo has a
huge float of their own where the Reyes ride through town throwing candy or
prizes to the audience. After the parade everyone returns home and the children
go to bed early that night, giving the kings plenty of time to stop by with the
gifts before the morning.
For breakfast, a cake called a Roscon is eaten. The roscon
is a round (bundt) shaped cake that has two surprises in it: a hard uncooked
bean, and a little miniature porcelain king. Pieces of cake are dished out, and
whoever has the misfortune to bite into the bean has to pay for the cake, while
the finder of the king guaranteed a lucky year! I ate an obscene amount of
Roscon cake in a span of 2 days, but never received either the bean or the
king. Wonder what that says about my luck….
No comments:
Post a Comment