By Ingrid Maldonado- Student Reporter
Christmas is a special time of year, and many different cultures have different traditions.
As a Hispanic, one of my family’s traditions is to open presents Christmas Eve night around midnight.
During my childhood, I grew up being excited for Christmas Eve night rather than Christmas day.
Christmas day was meant to relax, eat, and enjoy your gifts.
If you were to ask any person of Hispanic background when Christmas is, they would tell you December 24, not the 25. They will tell you they stay up late waiting for midnight to strike the clock and open presents. The next day, they sleep in, eat leftovers and relax with the family.
The foods of Hispanic culture during Christmas include, tamales, pozole, menudo, carne asada, champurrado and other foods. Tamales are corn dough filled with pork, chicken, or even sometimes sweet wrapped in a corn husk. Pozole is a type of soup with hominy, choice of meat, usually chicken, and seasonings. Champurrado is a frothy hot chocolate drink with spices.
In Hispanic cultures, there are days you celebrate leading up to Christmas. December 12 is the Day of the Virgin Guadalupe, which is when a catholic feast is prepared to honor the Virgin Mary. Las Posadas, which translates to the Inns, is December 16-24 and families go from home to home, singing a song which reenacts Mary and Joseph trying to find a place to stay in Bethlehem.
For Christmas, there are more foods than tamales. There is turkey, rice, beans, ham, and many more. Buñuelos are a dessert they make during the holidays. It is fried dough with sugar and cinnamon.
After Christmas, the festivities do not stop. The New Year arrives and there is a tradition to eat 12 grapes before the clock strikes midnight in order to have good luck each month of the year. After New Years, the next festivity is January 6.
January 6 is Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos which translates to Three Kings Day. It is when the three travelers went to Bethlehem to give their gifts to Jesus. A sweet bread in the shape of a wreath is shared with family and inside the bread is a hidden baby Jesus. Whoever gets the baby Jesus must make tamales for the next get together.
