Hi floridaguy!!
AS a Latin American who live in Argentina and traveled to several
places in South and North America I think that I am in the position to
give you an answer.
In general, the answer to your question is yes, they (we) celebrate
the same Christmas you're all used to (involving Santa Claus,
Christmas trees, giving gifts on December 25, etc.). But it depends on
the family heritage (the country and region of the family´s ancestors)
some peculiarities appear, for example in the food, in the way of the
people make the crib, etc.
The Latin American culture related to religion celebrations is a
legacy of the Spanish culture introduced dring the colony age, so this
customs are very homogenic through all the hispanics in the Americas,
the variations are due to the local indigenous customs and/or local
traditions. Almost Latin Americans are catholic, and follows the
catholic "Schedule" in the celebration of the Christmas (always with
the peculiarities due to the local region customs).
The Chritmas celebration starts on December 8th ("Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin Mary" commemoration day) with the decoration
of the Christmas tree and the making of the home crib. In some regions
the Baby Jesus image is put at this date in the crib and in others It
is added on Christmas day or Christmas Eve.
For the Christmas Eve the family meets to celebrate with traditional
dishes - in almost cases they are expensive - (this dishes vary from
one family to another, but it is very similar for families in the same
region or with ancestors in the same region). And yes this celebration
involves lots of consumer spending, for example new clothes,
decoration, gifts, etc.
The figure of Santa Claus is used for this days, and he is associated
to the give of gifts on December 25 (he leaves the gifts on the tree).
He is knowed with the names of "Papá Noel", "Viejito Pascuero",
"Santa", "San Nicolas", etc. depending on the region.
The Chrismas celebrations ends on January 6, the Day of the Three
Kings (Los Reyes Magos: Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar), this is another
gifts-giving day (specially for children) and on this day the tree and
the crib are taken apart, and stored for the next Christmas. Instead
of leaving milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. On the evening
of January 5, children leave candy for the wise men and grass, hay and
water for the camels the Three Kings rode on.
As additional sources see the following pages:
From "Ohio State University Fact sheet" site, "Understanding the
Hispanic Culture"; look for the paragraphs "Rituals and Religions" and
"Celebrations and Holidays":
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5237.html
"Hispanic Influences on Culture and Politics":
http://www2.worldbook.com/features/features.asp?feature=cinco&page=html/influences.htm&direct=yes
"Latinos in the United States - BEYOND CINCO DE MAYO, Latino Holidays
and Cultural Customs":
http://www.nahj.org/resourceguide/chapter_4.html
"Dia de los Reyes or Three Kings Day - Feast of the Epiphany -":
http://www.thankyouink.com/dia_de_los_reyes_or_three_kings_.htm
To see an example on how the some local Christmas customs have some
special peculiarities:
"Las Posadas - Hispanic Christmas Traditions":
http://go-southwest.com/culture/posada.shtml
To find books related to this topic:
"A Hispanic Holiday Library":
http://www.hispaniconline.com/lstyles/holidays/christmas/02/holiday_library.html
Search strategy:
Hispanic christmas
Hispanic christmas celebrate
Hispanic christmas celebration
I hope this helps. Please remember that this answer is not considered
ended until you are completely satisfied with it, so if you need a
clarification please post a request for it before rank this answer.
Best regards.
livioflores-ga |
