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KIDS UNITED
Christmas is not celebrated in Costa Rica until December 28th. That means Ana Banana has to wait 3 days longer than in the United States! In Costa Rica, there is a whole season of celebration! Ana and her family will start decorating in late November, hanging strings of lights, cypress wreaths, bright flowers and of course, the Christmas tree. Ana's Christmas tree in Costa Rica is decorated with white paint, strips of paper and lights, lace, small colorful balls, and completed with a star on the top!
Under the tree, Ana's family will have a nativity scene, called a Portal. This is a huge tradition in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries. Every year Ana's family tries to make their Portal more extravagant than the year before. These Portals represent the birth of Jesus in the manger and include the traditional characters. In Costa Rica, however, the Portals often take up most of the living room, adding more characters, animals and plants! Traditionally, in Costa Rica, the baby Jesus delivers small presents into the children's shoes while they are sleeping.
In Costa Rica, whole month of December is full of festivities and celebration. There are parades, rodeos, carnivals and religious processions throughout the entire country. The event of tope has been celebrated since colonial times.
Originally, this consisted of bullfights, but today there is a huge parade on the streets of San Jose! There are marching bands, floats and 1000 horses from all over the country. This is the party event of the entire year! Ana's whole family will definitely attend.
Ana's family will make the traditional Christmas meal, which includes tamal, a yummy stuffed corn flour dough. This is definitely Ana's and her brothers' favorite food! The Costa Rican culture has adopted the foreign tradition of eating turkey, as long as they have tamal as well. Ana's parents and grandfather like to drink Rompope, or eggnog!
In Costa Rica, the Christmas season doesn't end until January 6th!! This is when the decorations get packed up for the next year.
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