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CG ShopMy Latina Culture. My Latina Traditions |
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| Written by CG Girl |
| Friday, 09 October 2009 21:08 |
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My Culture: My traditions By: Marvely Reyes No matter who you are, where you came from, or where you live now, we all have one thing in common, culture. Although it may not be the same culture, we all have traditions or values that are unique to each person and family. To me, culture is a big part of a person’s identity. Being a Latina, my culture is a big part of who I am and keeping our traditions alive is very important to my family. So I decided to share one of my family’s traditions— to hopefully encourage others to share their traditions with us. We must always be proud of who we are. In my family and many Latino families, we celebrate “El Día de Los Reyes” or “The Day of the Kings.” It celebrates the arrival of the three wise men or “Los Reyes Magos” who each brought different treasures to baby Jesus. Traditionally, January 5th is the day that the three wise men are added to the nativity scene. That night the kids leave their shoes either under their bed or under the Christmas tree and await the coming of the wise men and their presents. The next day on the 6th of January, after the kids have opened their presents, there’s a great dinner prepared called the “Merienda de Reyes.” The meal consists of tamales, hot Mexican chocolate and the rosca de Reyes. Every year, my family splits up the holidays among all the homes, but since my last name is Reyes, naturally, we celebrate this holiday at my house. The rosca is basically an oval sweetbread decorated with candy. Hidden inside the rosca are small baby figurines, symbolizing keeping baby Jesus safe and hidden when he was born. The knife that you cut the rosca with symbolizes the danger that surrounded Jesus’ birth. The fun part is that whoever gets the baby in their piece of the rosca has to throw a party on the 2nd of February. It’s a time to get family and friends together to enjoy a dinner and have fun seeing who’s going to throw the party. Traditions and cultures are special to each individual because they all play different roles in our lives. We all have our own cultures that should be respected no matter what they are. |
