Traditions are very important in my family. We are Mexican, and we celebrate different kinds of traditions. Some traditions are part of our religious heritage like the “Magic Kings Day” and other ones are just habits like having a barbecue almost every Sunday or putting together jigsaw puzzles of 1000 pieces or more.
The Magic Kings Day is celebrated on January 6th. At the beginning it was only a tradition performed by Catholics (Catholicism is the most popular religion in Mexico), but nowadays many non-catholic families have adopted this celebration as their own, turning it into a nationally celebrated day. The story behind the celebration is this: In accordance with the Bible, thousands of years ago when Jesus was born, an angel gave to three wealthy kings, the announcement of the birth of the son of God. The angel pointed out a star in the sky that would lead them to the newborn.
The three kings traveled for days, following the star until they arrived at the city of Belen and found baby Jesus in his humble crib with his parents. The kings had brought gifts with them, which they offered to Jesus. To commemorate this date, Mexican children write a letter to the three magic kings asking them for gifts. Of course companies have marketed to take advantage of this tradition and increase sales. A part of this tradition that I love the most is after the children open their gifts.
A huge bagel with dried fruit is brought (it can be homemade, if you know ow). This bagel is shared with friends and family. The interesting part is that inside it, several plastic figures are hidden. Each figure represents baby Jesus. You have to be careful so you don’t choke on Jesus. If you find a plastic figure in your slice of bagel you are committed to organize a party on February 2nd. In addition, people believe that you’ll have good luck for the rest of the year.
An additional family tradition is to put together puzzles. We started this tradition, not so long ago. If you want your name to be written on the finished puzzle, then you need to participate. After we complete the jigsaw, we send it to be framed and then hang it in our TV room. Our collection is now formed by seven puzzles. I know it isn’t a large number, but you must to take into account that they are really big and difficult jigsaws. The first puzzle we put together was the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The last one I did before coming to EWU was a beautiful image of the sunset. It was one of the hardest puzzles I’ve ever done because all the pieces were the same color just different shades.
This is one of my favorite family traditions. It is funny to see how my mom and dad try to put pieces together just to be able to sign their name in the puzzle. We spend many hours in the living room trying to put a jigsaw together. It usually takes us a week to finish a puzzle, depending on the difficulty and amount of free time that we have. My dad just told me yesterday they are beginning to put together a 2000- piece jigsaw.
The traditions listed earlier are part of my life. I have always enjoyed them. These habits are merely excuses to spend more time together. When I have my family, I will pass on these traditions to my children. I wish that every family in the world had habits like the ones in my family so, that they can become closer. If my family didn’t have these traditions, I would have missed many wonderful times with them.
