by Mónica Gabriela Ortega Macedo
Christmas is one of the most popular celebrations around the world. But it is different in each country even in each family. In Mexico most of the population is Catholic and for that reason this holiday is very important for us. Do you want to know more about how we enjoy Christmas? Come on I will give you a tour in a piece of Mexican Culture.
I am going to describe Christmas in three important events: Las posadas, Christmas Eve, Christmas.
The Posadas are celebrations that represent the nine stops that Jose and Maria made before Jesus was born. In these celebrations the people usually go to the church to pray and sing carols, for example: el niño del tambor, los peces en le rio, la marimorena, arre borriquito . You can listen “Arre borriquito” in this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-giiqh72SE.
Christmas is one of the most popular celebrations around the world. But it is different in each country even in each family. In Mexico most of the population is Catholic and for that reason this holiday is very important for us. Do you want to know more about how we enjoy Christmas? Come on I will give you a tour in a piece of Mexican Culture.
I am going to describe Christmas in three important events: Las posadas, Christmas Eve, Christmas.
The Posadas are celebrations that represent the nine stops that Jose and Maria made before Jesus was born. In these celebrations the people usually go to the church to pray and sing carols, for example: el niño del tambor, los peces en le rio, la marimorena, arre borriquito . You can listen “Arre borriquito” in this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-giiqh72SE.
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| My little cousin breaking the piñata in a posada |
Then, in a house or outside the church all the people get together to
break a Piñata , it is usually a star, that represents the Seven Deadly Sins.
Inside the Piñata there are candies or fruit. Also the host of this celebration
prepares typical Mexican food as: tacos dorados, tostadas, pozole, pambazos,
and the famous ponche, it is a kind of tea that is drink in this holyday; it is
made of fruits (guava, caña, apple, tejocote). In some posadas the host gives
candies’ bag to the children. Rarely the people dance and sing after the posada.
The Christmas Eve is the most important posada, it is the number 9. In this celebration the families get together to have a delicious dinner, they make and interchange, make a fire, break piñatas.
It is different in each family but I am going to describe how the Christmas in my family is.
The meeting starts usually at 10:00 pm. The meeting point is my grandma’s house. We start by cooing the Jesus child, followed by pedir posada. My little cousins enjoy thundering fireworks meanwhile we sing to the Jesus child.
After that, my mother and my aunts serve the dinner. My family usually eats spaghetti, turkey, and different kind of salads. Then we make a toast where all my uncles say how proud are of their families, and it is time for hugs !!! This is a very emotional moment because I feel like everything is peace, love and happiness.
Another special and great moment is the present interchange. When all of us want to know what we are going to get. And it is time for jokes, laughs, and a lot a lot of pictures.
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| The interchange in my family |
Finally in the Christmas Eve we make a fire, where my cousins and I, enjoy dancing (cumbia, salsa, banda), drinking ponche and making jokes.
The next day, in Christmas, all my family gets together again, and we eat the leftovers of the previous days. We watch Christmas movies and we eat my favorite salad, “Christmas Eve salad”, I will attach the recipe. You should try to make it! I enjoy a lot this holyday, not only because is important in my country, it is because I love being with my family. It is the most valuable gift that the life could give me. And of course because you can eat whatever you want, and all the food is delicious, but be careful because maybe you can weight gain.
