You Play Secret Santa → Juegas Amigo Secreto. Some call it intercambio (exchange). Before Christmas, everyone anonymously picks the name of someone else in the family to buy a present.
Santa Claus and Mexican Christmas traditions
Traditionally, in Mexico, children don't receive presents from Santa Claus. However, his popularity is growing in Mexican Christmas celebrations. Because of this, some children will receive gifts on 24 December – or Christmas Eve – as well as on 6 January for Dia de Reyes.
The nine posadas of Advent are a wonderfully popular Christmas tradition in Mexico and are in part to blame for Guadalupe-Reyes' fame for being a party marathon. Posadas are Christmas social gatherings with a difference that traditionally take place each night from December 16 through December 24.
Most Mexicans attend church masses (Misa de Gallo) and come home to family dinners. Typical meals include Christmas Eve salad (ensalada de Noche Buena), wrapped cornmeal dumplings (tamales), and dried salted codfish (bacalao).
Being a predominantly Catholic country, posadas in Mexico are a commemoration of the nativity story. Posada is the Spanish word for “inn” and refers to Joseph and Mary's search for refuge on their way to Bethlehem before giving birth to baby Jesus.
1- Merry Christmas!
¡Feliz Navidad!
The perfect gift for youngsters at Christmas is a typical Mexican toy such as the balero, cup-and-ball or ring and pin as it's sometimes called, una loteria, a card game similar to bingo, or matatenas, a skillful game often know as jacks in which you throw small stones.
Christmas Day is often spent as a day to rest after festivities. People wish each other Merry Christmas (Feliz Navidad). It is common to relax, catch up with family and friends, and eat leftovers (recalentado) from Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) dinner.
Mexican Christmas foods include hearty fares such as bacalao navideno and pozole with traditional sides such as the romeritos made of sea blite. Tamales take center stage over the season along with Mexican sweets such as buñuelos, rosca de reyes (Three Kings Bread), and the chocolate drink called champurrado.
The song, popular with school-aged kids, explains that Santa's reindeer get a rest while six white boomers (boomer is Aussie slang for a male kangaroo) lead Santa's sleigh through Australia! After all the toys are delivered, they even help a little joey (a baby kangaroo) find his mommy.
Sugar skulls, food and beverages (mostly tequila and mezcal), marigolds and small trinkets will be placed on decorated altars as offerings (gifts) to the dead.
? Santa Claus emoji
It is commonly used to refer to Santa Claus specifically, or Christmas and the Christmas holiday season.
Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas In Australia
What is Santa Claus called in Australia? These days most Australians call Atnas (his real name) “Santa”.
In Mexico, and many Hispanic households, Christmas Eve, or Nochebuena, is when the largest Christmas feast is eaten. As far back as I can remember, my Luna family would gather on Christmas Eve and enjoy a spread of our favorite Mexican dishes – enchiladas, tacos, flautas, empandas, rice, pozole, mole, and more!
Gifts are usually opened upon receiving them and are enthusiastically praised in front of the person who presented them. If giving someone flowers, avoid buying marigolds as they symbolise death. Red flowers can also have negative connotations. Some believe they cast spells.
In Spanish countries, the children do not receive gifts in December on Christmas day. Instead, the family exchanges gifts on January 6th of the new year on Three Kings Day – Día de Los Reyes Magos.
Los Reyes Magos
Many countries observe the tradition of Epiphany, on January 6th. Mexico, Spain, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Argentina, are just a few of the countries that celebrate this day. According to this tradition, children leave their shoes out before going to bed.
In England and Australia, you'll often hear Happy Christmas, but in the US and Canada, Merry is the star of the show.
¡Feliz Navidad! Feliz = Happy, and Navidad = Nativity, so the literal translation is Happy Nativity. You use Feliz Navidad the exact same way you would use Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas, however.
There are many Christmas songs in Spanish which are traditionally sung in Mexico. Some are religious carols such as Noche de Paz (the Spanish language version of Silent Night), others are fun songs like Feliz Navidad, Pastores a Belén, Campana sobre Campana and many other pretty songs.
The English translation of the Spanish term Noche Buena is “good night,” says Juan Aguirre, Executive Director of the Mexican culture non-profit Mano a Mano. It's also the name of a familiar Christmas plant: the poinsettia.
Origin of the Posada
The word Posada means 'lodging' or 'inn' and is traditionally a religious celebration honoring the birth of baby Jesus. It was created as a re-telling of the story of how Mary and Joseph were looking for a place to stay in the days leading up to the birth of Jesus.
Las Posadas, (Spanish: “The Inns”) religious festival celebrated in Mexico and some parts of the United States between December 16 and 24. Las Posadas commemorates the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus.