Tradiciones Navideñas de México

Tradiciones Navideñas
Ok, here are some traditions I remember.

Christmas Foods:
We ate buñuelos, tamales, and té de canela.

Buñuelos are fried flour cakes. They are fried and sprinkled with sugar and ground cinnamon.

Té de canela is a cinnamon tea. Cinnomon sticks are boiled in water then the water (with the cinnamon in it) is poured into a cup. One may add sugar to taste and some add a little bit of milk.

Tamales are a little harder to describe. I'll bring one to class as a model. Tamales are made with ground cornmeal, stuffing (meats, beans, hot peppers, etc.), then wrapped in a corn husk. The cornmeal is mixed with water until it becomes thick. It is then spread on the corn husk. The stuffing is then put on top of the cornmeal. Finally, it is wrapped and cooked. The corn husk is not eaten.

Christmas Traditions:
Some Mexican children do not get gifts on the 24th or the 25th. Some have to wait until January 6th to get their gifts. On January 6th, the Wise Men are said to return and bring a gift for the children. Some parents teach their children that El Niño Dios (the God child) brings them their gifts. Some Mexican children do get gifts on the 24th or 25th, but again, their parents teach them that El Niño Dios (the God child) brings the gifts.

New Year's Traditions:
Some people in Mexico celebrate the coming of the new year with a fogata (bonfire).
They stay up and wait for the new year to arrive. They drink café and have compañerismo with friends and family.
For the New Year we ate basically the same things. We stayed up and watched the New Year arrive.

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