Christmas is very different here: Here is a web page the sums it up pretty well and has some pictures:
http://www.elboricua.com/pr_christmas.html
Christmas is so loooong here! From the week-end after Thanksgiving till the Sunday following Jan 6 is Christmas! The kids keep shoe boxes under their beds filled with grass for the horses of the wise men. Then their parents sneak in at night and take the grass out and put the presents in the shoe boxes. In the morning the kids find the grass gone, proof that the wise men came and fed their horses the grass. The presents left behind are in gratitude for the kindness of the children for feeding their horses. I like this because at least it is more from the bible than Santa Clause. But because of the Untited States owning Puerto Rico, they are now celebrating Dec 25th and Santa Clause too. Of course all the kids want presents on BOTH days!
We have an unusual custom called Matutinos (Ma too TEEN ohs). It invloves sneaking up on houses in the middle of the night and singing until they invite you in for a snack. Our church people do it every year and it is a lot of fun. We used to do it till 4 AM some weekends, but I guess I am getting older, because I am ready to head for home after midnight! Of course, if you stay at home, they may sneak up on you! Nothing like having 25 or so surprise guests drop by in the middle of the night for coffee and snacks! Of course we read the bible story of Christmas and sing Christmas hymns. It is a lot of fun, but it does take a little getting used too!
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