Christmas

Christmas

Where does it take place?
Around the world the main Christmas celebration is called La Posada, which is a religious procession that reenacts thesearch for shelter by Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus. During the procession, the celebrants go from house to house carrying the images of Mary and Josephlooking for shelter.

Several weeks before Christmas, elaborately decorated market stalls or are set up in the plazas of every town and city. Some people travelfor days from remote areas to get to these markets. Market stalls offer crafts of every conceivable kind, foods such as cheese, bananas, nuts, and cookies, andflowers such as orchids and poinsettias.

Santa Claus is not predominant, but the bright red suit is represented in the traditional flower of the season. This floweris the poinsettia, which has a brilliant red star-shaped bloom. There is a legend connected with the flower. A little boy named Pablo was walking to the church inhis village to visit the Nativity scene, when he realized he had nothing to offer the Christ Child. He saw some green branches growing along the roadside andgathered them up. Other children laughed at him, but when he laid them by the manger, they started to bloom a bright red poinsettia flower on each branch.

Thechildren receive gifts. On Christmas day they are blindfolded and taken to try and break a decorated clay piñata that dangles and swings at the end of a rope. Once thepiñata has been broken, the children run to recover the candy kept inside. Those children who have been good also on January 6th receive a gift from the Three Wise Men.