The holidays are here. What a wonderful time of the year. It is just an amazing time to be able to relax and spend time with family and friends. We live in Orlando Florida. All three of our children were born and raised here. Our two daughters now reside in Nashville, TN. for the past 2 years, so we love when they come home to be together for the Holidays.

I know we all have different holiday traditions. Let me tell you a little about ours.
My husband and I were raised in Puerto Rico where Christmas time is much different than it is in the states.

We greet each other by a kiss on the cheek and ‘ Feliz Navidad.’ Puerto Rican Christmas use to be the longest Christmas celebrated in the world. Starting on the day after Thanksgiving and going until mid January, but the Filipinos have beat us with them starting their Christmas holiday Sept 1st.

The island is predominantly a Roman Catholic nation. Before Puerto Rico became a part of the US and adopted Christmas, it belonged to Spain where they celebrated Three Kings Day. This is when the wise men brought gifts to Jesus at the nativity.

Growing up down there Three Kings was the big day for gifts. The kids go out on January 5th and find hay to put in a box by their bed side before they go to bed that evening. In the morning they awake to the gifts the three Kings left them in return for feeding their camels the hay.

Growing up down there, Santa was not a big thing, Three Kings day on January 6th was the main holiday. Today, with all the ‘gringos’ moving down there and the locals moving state side and then coming back, Santa is now just as big for kids as it is here in the states. When I was growing up down there as a child, my parents would get palm trees to decorate as our Christmas tree with a train track and train circling around a village under the palm.

From December 14-24th churches conduct miss de aguinaldo very early in the morning. It is a Mass at church full of all the Spanish Christmas carols. It is very lively and so much fun.

Warning!!! During this season you need to be on guard for parrandas. Parrandas are what my husband and I say is Christmas Caroling on steroids. It does not matter if it is a work day or not, but any night you may be awakened in the by a group of people with instruments singing Parranda music (Puerto Rican Christmas music) very LOUD… Abre me la Puerta, and they will not stop until you open up the door.

You proceed to let them in while still in your pj’s. Then you need to feed them and give them drinks. They may stay a little while or a long while. Whenever they decide to leave they take you with them to the next house and do it all over again.

What are some of the traditional holiday drinks and foods? Coquito is big for the holidays. This is a Puerto Rican egg nog made with coconut and rum. You also have Sangria. A lot of the traditional foods are morcilla (blood sausage), pasteles, arroz con gandules (yellow rice), Pernil, yuca, tostones, amarillos, tembleque, flan, to name a few.

Before Three Kings day is New Years eve. If you are by a beach, you celebrate by dropping backward into the waves as the clock strikes midnight to keep the evil spirits away which is another tradition originated from Spain.

But wait…we are not done yet. The festivities continue with Las Octavites which is suppose to be 8 more days to celebrate until las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian or la SanSe. But it looks like this year might be going for two weeks until January 20th. It is so funny, the people in the Caribbean are always looking to extend their festivities to party and have fun, with lots of music and dance.

San Sebastian is when many people on the island go to Old San Juan to join in the festivities. This is the largest parade on the island, street bars, eat, drink, sing, dance bomba, plena, salsa, merengue. And it is also the last day of Christmas before returning back to work.

There is a huge Puerto Rican influence here in Orlando. Many of the traditions from the island are carried out here as well. We have had parrandas come to our house and our Christmas meals is always served with the traditional foods, drink and music. Our kids always put the hay by their bed side for the Three Kings until they moved out of the house and we have always tried to attend a misa de Aguinaldo, morning Mass. I just love this time of the year.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas season filled with love, peace and tranquility while you surrounded yourself with your families and friends. God bless!!!