Christmas+stories


 * Christmas in El Salvador By Cristina Martinez**

Christmas in my country is a big celebration, involving people from all ages. Children can’t wait the month of December to ply with fireworks which are available in most of the stores or markets from big selection of sizes, sounds, and colourful lights.

Young adults see Christmas as time for parties sharing presents and Christmas cards. For people middle age and parents means expensive time with lot of present to buy for family, relatives and friends. Well this tradition doesn’t show any thing in particular because is very common in all around the world.

Salvadorean people celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24TH of December, with lot of food for the dinner. The traditional food is roast turkey with spice sauce and vegetables, fried rice, chicken or pork tamales, quesadias and cakes for dessert.

Christmas has a very strong religious meaning as well; the papulation is 100% Christians. Therefore Christmas is time for plays remembering Baby Jesus birth. In some places the people start from 1st to the 24th of December with POSADAS which means to remember when Joseph and Mary walked away from their town and asking for place to stay because Mary was close to birth her baby. These Posadas are very alive women and men get involved carrying Mary and Joseph and knocking doors looking for shelter to stay the night at different houses. Before open the house the people sings songs asking the landlord to open the door, once the doors are open the host of the Posada offers to the crowd drinks and some finger food, and Mary and Joseph are left there until next day the group of people came to take them to another house, while they are walking on the streets people are carrying candles, whistles and noisy sticks.

The children are visited by **//La Befana//** on January 6. She was said to have been so busy cleaning her house that she missed out on going with the three wise men to Bethlehem. She was also considered to be a witch. Children hang up their stockings so that she will fill them with toys and gifts. = Christmas traditions in Italy = [|Crib - Jászol] || [|Sweets - Édességek] || Befana || In Italy the Christmas tree decoration may begin on 8.December or later. The tradition of making the [|Christmas crib] //(presepe)// is very popular. As for Christmas presents, the traditions vary from S.Lucia, through Santa Claus (most popular) to [|Befana].  __ The Christmas crib: __ The first crib was made by St. Francis of Assisi, who, visiting Betlehem on Christmas of 1222, was very impressed by the spirit of simplicity, so far from the luxury of occidental Christmas. He asked the pope for permission to celebrate the following Christmas in a similar way. As it was prohibited by the Church to represent drama with religious contents, the pope gave permission only for celebrating the mass in a cavern instead of a church. So St. Francis prepared a cave with straw, put a crib and live animals there and celebrated the mass for the people arrived from the neighbourhood. The first real crib, as we mean it today, was made by Arnolfo di Cambio of marble in 1283 and is exposed in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. This example was followed by many churches, giving way to a competition. In the baroque age making cribs became a fashion, not only in churches, but in houses as well, loosing much of the religious content. New, secondary figures were added, their clothes represented the actual fashion, their actions were connected to everyday's life, etc. The original figures sometimes were quite hidden by the big number of richly decorated, very life-like secondary figures. Making cribs became a well-paid profession, appreciated particularly in the centres of crib-making: Genova, Naples and Sicily. The rich and the clerical people competed to make the more expensive crib, often forgotting about good taste. These cribs were made sometimes of gold and precious stones. In the popolar versions less expensive materials were used: wood in Genova, terracotta in Naples, terracotta, plaster, wax in Sicily. Some works are real pieces of art. Befana The Befana (from the word Ephiphany = birth) is an ugly but kind witch that brings her presents (especially sweets in a stockings-like pack) on 6. January. According to the legend she was too busy (or lazy) to go to visit the baby Jesus together to the shepherds, lost her way, so she arrived too late, finding the place empty. Since then she is looking for baby Jesus in every child, distributing her presents. ||  ||
 * __Traditions __****__ from Sicily __**The foods that might be served are eels and larks, boiled pasta, fish, sweet bread and **//Torrone//** a type of nougat.