Christmas in Mexico is a month-long celebration throughout December. We celebrate Christmas with our families, friends and co-workers — lots of parties. Christmas Eve Mass is followed by yet another party. Then on Christmas, we all have really nice dinner food, get presents, do fun activities like Secret Santa and enjoy family reunions.
When you compare Mexican with American Christmas traditions, there are similarities and differences. First of all, we don’t have a white Christmas; by that I mean that we have no snow. But it still gets pretty cold down the City of Monterrey and Mexico City.
As for the presents and the food, the traditions are similar. We also get all the family together for Christmas, but we really mean ALL the family. Aunts, cousins, grandparents, everyone is there.
In Mexico we have several parties named Posadas, with piñatas, Mexican candy, hot chocolate and fireworks. We spend the night singing and re-enacting the night that Joseph and Mary were asking for a place to spend the night. We do this with family and friends, and most of the times, we have more than three different posadas.
My personal favorite is the food. We have a special plate called tamales. They are spicy or sweet, and the fun part is that you don’t know what are you going to get because they are covered with maiz leaves. Hot drinks like atole and hot chocolate are very popular this time of the year.
After Christmas, we get more presents for the celebration of Los Reyes Magos, which in English means The Magic Kings. As you know, three kings visited the new born baby, Jesus, and gave him three valuable presents. These three kings traveled a long ride just to welcome the son of God.
We celebrate this on January 6, a day before starting school. Los Reyes Magos is a very special celebration because, even though we celebrate Christmas with the idea of Santa Claus, some people believe that Santa is just materialist and that has no value behind it. However, Los Reyes Magos teaches the kids to be humble and to understand that we celebrate Christmas because it is the day that Jesus was born, and not to recognize it only for the presents and Christmas break.
I also love the smell of Christmas: the green tree sitting by the fire place with beautiful amber bright lights and decorating with my brother and sister. While our customs and traditions are different, the meaning is still the same: to be with our loved ones and to celebrate Jesus.