Ever since I was a little kid in Mexico Christmas has been a special time for me, I can close my eyes and remember the "posadas" which start on December 16 and run through December 24. It is a tradition to celebrate a posada every night where many get together and reenact when Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem and asked for a room at the inn and time and time again they were sent away. We do this by way of song, where the group outside represent Joseph and Mary and the group inside rempresent the village innkeepers.
Then we would brake anywhere from two to four pinatas which most of us spent all morning making from scratch. This part of the celebration fun. The pinatas were filled with some candy but mostly fruits such as oranges and sugar canes, as well as a bunch of peanuts. The pinatas were made out of a clay pot which we covered with layers and layers of glued newspapers. We were pretty creative and many different designs were made during the fourteen days.
Every house had a very elaborate Nativity set and going to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was a must. Although we have our own Christmas carols we also have a Spanish version to most of the popular American Christmas Carols. Then believe it or not, firecrackers are a huge part of the celebration as well.
Although we knew of St. Nick most of us kids didn't expect presents, instead we would wait another 13 days and on January 6th we would write a letter to the three Wise Men and put it inside one of our shoes which then were left outside the room doors.
As we came here to the U.S. it wasn't hard to very quickly adopt the American way as we too got caught up with all the gift giving and the food and so on.
Christmas to me is just one happy holiday and the Christas season fills me with joy and peace.
So, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Celebrate Jesus' birth with your loved ones as this is a wonderful time to spend with the family.