Decorations
To begin with the decorations are pretty different. In the United States almost everyone has a large Christmas tree with a star at the top similar to some families in Spain. However, the biggest difference is that we don't typically put a nativity scene "portal de Belen" in our homes with a Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus in a manger, Joseph and the three wise men. We do however decorate the outside of our homes with lots of lights and different colors, more so than I would say in Spain.
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| A house decorated with Christmas lights |
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| Nativity Scene in Seville |
Food
Also, this year with some of my private classes I got to make Christmas cookies a great tradition I have at home with my family. We made sugar cookies and decorated them with a present, stocking, reindeer, wreath etc. Generally my family has a big Christmas dinner with turkey or ham, mashed potatoes, cakes and vegetables similar to Thanksgiving.
In Spain I got to try polvorones, a cookie generally with almonds inside and turron, a hard or soft nougat with almonds and honey on the inside and can be chocolate or many different kinds. Another speciality is the King's cake which I have yet to try.
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| Polvorones |
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| Turrón |
The Three Magic Kings
The correct name in English is actually the three wise men (los reyes magos), but everyone in Spain knows they are the ones to bring the presents on the three kings day. However, in the United States we receive presents from Santa and open them on Christmas morning December 25th. Some children make lists for him of the presents they want him to bring and make sure to stay on the "nice" list instead of the naughty list.
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