Day of the Three Kings

   Everyone loves Christmas and wishes that it would last forever or at least a few more days.  well, in Mexico and other Spanish countries they celebrate the holidays all the way until January 6th and even longer.  January 6th is called Three Kings day or El Dia De Reyes in Spanish. In the Bible, in the chapter of Matthew to be specific, it talks about how the three wise men followed a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh to the new born savior, Jesus.  This holiday celebrates the journey of the three kings to visit baby Jesus.

    Similar to our tradition of Santa Clause, a few days before the holiday the children write letters to the three magi asking for gifts.  The children take these letters and attach them to balloons sold during the season and send them off to the kings.  Families also travel to Alameda park in Mexico city a few days before the holiday and celebrate with stands of food, toys, and even can have their picture taken with the three kings.   

   On the eve of January 5th kids place their old shoes either under their beds or in their living rooms to be filled with goodies by the three kings. This is also the night that families add the figurines of the wise men to the nativity scene. Similar to how kids here in America leave cookies and milk for Santa and maybe even a carrot for Rudolph, children in Mexico leave milk and cookies for the wise men and often water and hay for the kings animals.   Children then go to bed and wake up the following morning to find that the three kings left them gifts.

    Families celebrate with the Merienda de Reyes, which is an evening meal that is had with family and friends.  People prepare for the meal by traveling to the market and often buy traditional holiday treats such as the rosca de reyes, a sweetbread that is oval shaped and covered with candied fruits.  Families celebrate this feast by eating the rosca bread, tamales, and drinking hot chocolate.  Each person cuts a slice of the bread and inside one of the slices a person may find a small figurine of baby Jesus, which represents how he needed to be born in a secure place away from King Herod and the knife represents the danger that he faced.  Although you would think that everyone would want to find this figurine, they actually don't want it.  The person who receives the figurine is nominated as the host for a February 2nd festival known as Candelaria and has to invite everyone that is present at the January 6th feast as well as purchase a new outfit for the baby Jesus in the nativity. The holiday season ends on February 2nd where another feast is made and the nativity is put away for the year.

Information from:
http://www.inside-mexico.com/featurereyes.htm
http://vallartaonline.com/information/SpotLight/ThreeKingsDayinMexcio/
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/magazine/a-world-of-celebration-mexico-city-day-of-the-three-kings.html

Picture from:
http://www.inside-mexico.com/reyesoscar.htm