Christmas in Costa Rica

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Christmas in Costa Rica

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Celebrating Christmas in Costa Rica is a wondrous and exciting experience. Families spend December preparing for Christmas, putting up lights and planning family get togethers. By the end of November decorations appear in the stores and by mid-December, houses are festively decorated with wreaths, lights and of course the Christmas tree.

For Christmas in Costa Rica, the traditional Christmas tree is either a big evergreen branch, a small cypress tree or dried coffee branches. White paint and brightly colored strips of paper are used for decorations as well as small colored balls, lace and a variety of small figurines. A small gold star sits on the top of the tree as a reminded of the Star of Bethlehem.

One of the main features of Christmas in Costa Rica is the Nativity scene called the portal, representing the birth of Jesus in a manger. This scene is constructed with mosses and grasses, colored sawdust, black paper, cypress twigs, silver glitter and figurines represented Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. People in Costa Rica also add dolls, toy animals, fruits and berries.

The portal symbol of Christmas in Costa Rica occupies a place of honor in every home. Those who dont own a home must use a portal that they receive as a gift in hopes that the Holy Family will get them a home of their own. The families place the figure of Baby Jesus on the portal at midnight on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve Mass is very important and families have their traditional Christmas dinner when they return from church. This is also the time that adults open their gifts. Children wait until the visit of Saint Nicholas on Christmas morning to open all their presents.

Another feature of Christmas in Costa Rica is posada. Posadas begin nine days before Christmas and involve neighbors getting together at a different house each day to act out the Nativity. After the playacting, there is praying, singing, dancing, and food. The Christmas season does not end until January 6, the feats of the Epiphany, when the people celebrate the arrival of the three Wise Men at the stable in Bethlehem.

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