Catholic Christmas
Description:
By this day they prepare in advance, starting from October, they begin to look for gifts to their relatives. Friends and colleagues, as a rule, do not give gifts, so, some trinkets. But their relatives buy mainly the things they need in the household: electrical goods, a stock of clothes for a year ahead, kitchen utensils, tools, children - a huge number of toys, necessarily bicycles, rollers, dolls, factory robots ... All gifts are carefully wrapped in colored papers of red and green color and glued to large paper bows, write cards and put under the Christmas tree.
The tree (i.e. cypress) is also decorated in advance, from the beginning of December. In the living room, a “portal” is placed on the floor: the birth of Christ. In one corner, the floor is laid out with moss, build a kind of barn, put the figures of Mary and Jose, three Magi with gifts, put figurines of different animals around, often even make a flowing river, all this glows with multi-colored light bulbs and squeaks electronic songs. Jesus does not appear in the cradle until Christmas Eve. Christmas lunch starts around 8 p.m.
Everyone gathers in large families, mostly at Grandma's house, and young people are not allowed to go out to friends this evening. Decorate the table with a beautiful tablecloth, in the center put a bouquet of spruce branches. The whole house is also decorated with various wreaths, garlands and golden bells. My favorite dish is a pork leg baked in the oven. On the side dishes cook rice, salad, mashed potatoes. Also, according to Spanish tradition, apples and grapes are put on the table. Loud music sounds and, of course, can not do without fast folk dances. Many people don’t wait until 12 and go to bed; here everyone usually goes to bed and gets up early, and it’s hard to stay up all night. The presents are opened the next day. In families of wealthy people have fun longer and arrange a noisy demonstration of opening gifts with jokes and exclamations. Before midnight, prayer is required.
At exactly twelve o'clock, firecrackers and firecrackers begin, teenagers do this on the street; then all the neighbors go to the porch, shout and congratulate each other. The next day, all the children come out dressed in everything new, with beautiful dolls and shiny bicycles, showing them to their friends. After lunch, they go to visit distant relatives, taking gifts with them, finish yesterday’s festive food. After that, almost everyone, with rare exceptions, enjoys a Christmas holiday for the rest of the year. During this period, tamales is eaten: a folk dish that is prepared in large quantities in advance, starting in November. Women exchange tamales and compete with whom they come out tastier. This food is stored for a very long time, and it saves the efforts of people, allows them these days not to engage in the kitchen, and more rest and chat with friends.
After Christmas, almost everyone goes to the beach. This is considered the best time for a holiday, as it is dry season and at the same time not hot due to the strong cool north wind.