The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a culturally and commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family that is indigenous to Mexico and Central America. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the United States in 1825. For more information, go to Wikipedia.
My students and I are reading the Legend of the Poinsettia. We are learning about the origin of the flower and other interesting facts about it. Then, they make their own poinsettia.
After Chistmas, we were learning about Spanish Christmas traditions: The three wise men parade and 'Las campanadas'.
1. Los Reyes Magos / The three wise men
According to Christian beliefs, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of the Christian tradition. Their names are:
La cabalgata de Reyes / The Cavalcade of Magi is a traditional parade of kings coaches, practically in all Spanish cities and also in some cities and towns in Mexico. The Magi (of which tradition holds there were three: Melchior, Gaspar, and Baltasar) ride through the streets, as their page boys throw candies to children.
It is celebrated every January 5 (the day preceding the feast of Epiphany) in the evening. When the night comes the children must go to bed early after cleaning their shoes and the following morning they have the gifts of the Magi that they have requested before in a letter. According to this tradition, the children who have behaved badly during the last year receive coal candy rather than toys.
The great cavalcade of Madrid is retransmitted live on TVE 1 (the public Spanish broadcaster) every year. The cavalcade of Alcoy is the oldest in the world and is a major draw of international tourism for Spain.
The Twelve Grapes (Sp. Las doce uvas de la suerte, "The twelve grapes of luck") is a Spanish tradition that dates back from at least 1895[1] but become consolidated in 1909. In December of that year, some alicantese vine growers popularized this custom to better sell huge amounts of grapes from an excellent harvest.
The tradition consists in eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight of December 31. According to the tradition, that leads to a year of prosperity.[2] In some areas, it is believed that the tradition wards away witches and general evil.[2] Each grape is eaten with each beat of the bell.[3]
The twelve grapes are linked to the Puerta del Sol tower clock, where this tradition started and from where the change of year is always broadcast.
This tradition was adopted also by places with a broad cultural relation with Spain such as Mexico and other Latin American countries, as well as Hispanic communities in the United States. Countries as far as the Philippines have adopted the tradition.
