1. Christmas in Mexico

2. Hola. Welcome to Mexico. My name is Daniel
Hola! Welcome to Mexico! My name is Daniel. I live in Mexico City and I’d be happy to show you around and tell you about how we celebrate Christmas, or as we call it, La Posada! Let’s go!

3. La Posada celebrates the travel that Mary and Joseph took before Jesus was born. It takes place nine days before Christmas Eve.

4. Each night, families go from house to house looking for a place to stay, just like Mary and Joseph did. When they find shelter, the families pray and sing songs. On Christmas Eve, we go to church and sing songs at a midnight Mass.

5. We love to eat a “rosca de reyes” during Posada
We love to eat a “rosca de reyes” during Posada. That means a “Cake of Kings”. Inside the cake is a tiny figure of the baby Jesus. The person who finds the figure keeps it until the end of our Christmas celebration on February 2nd.

6. Santa brings presents on Christmas Eve but our most important gift-bringers are the Three Wise Men. They bring gifts to good children on January 6th, “el dia de Reyes” or The Day of the Kings. This is the day the Three Wise Men gave gifts to Jesus, so that is when they bring them to good children too!

7. It’s time for my favorite tradition… the piñata
It’s time for my favorite tradition… the piñata! A piñata is a type of container that we make out of clay or papier mache. We fill it with toys and candy. During our holiday celebrations, we are blindfolded, spun around, and then get a chance to try and break the piñata! All the kids race to get the goodies that are inside!

8. Wish me luck! I’m going to try and break the piñata!

9. Have you seen the beautiful Christmas flower the poinsettia
Have you seen the beautiful Christmas flower the poinsettia? The tradition of the poinsettia at Christmas comes from Mexico.

10. The legend of the poinsettia is a favorite here in Mexico
The legend of the poinsettia is a favorite here in Mexico. The legend says that long ago, a poor Mexican girl had no gifts to lay at the baby Jesus’ manger during a Christmas Eve church service. She picked a handful of weeds and sticks on her way to church and laid them at the manger.

11. Instantly, the weeds and sticks blossomed into beautiful, bright red flowers. The visitors at church called them “flores de noche buena”, which means “flowers of the holy night”. From then on, poinsettias became one of the symbols of Christmas.

12. That was so fun! It’s time for me to leave for La Posada with my family. I wonder who will give us shelter tonight?

13. I hope that you had fun learning about our traditions! Feliz Navidad!