A "Tico" Christmas
As in other parts of the world, Christmas in Costa Rica is a time for celebration and parties, sharing and reflecting.

The month of December is electric with thoughts of the season, and busy with preparations for festivities, family reunions and vacations.

On Christmas Eve, family and friends gather late in the evening to wait for midnight, when the baby Jesus is added to the nativity scene, a very popular Latin American tradition,  which is common in most homes, and get down to the business of - eating.

A full course meal has been prepared ahead of time and kept warm for the annual dinner that begins after midnight and ends when everyone is full.

The opening of presents follows the dinner.

The traditional Christmas tree in Costa Rica is a big evergreen branch or a small cypress tree. In some homes dried coffee branches are still being use.

Throughout the month of December there are parades, carnavals, parties, and religious processions in all corners of the country. This year, Josefinos (residents of San José) will have to content themselves with only the Tope - the horse parade - on the 26th, as the Carnaval and the Zapore Fair were cancelled due to lack of sponsorship and health and safety concerns.

The tope has been celebrated in Costa Rica since colonial times. Originally the activity when bulls were cut out of the herd to be used in the bull fights, for the past forty years it has been a formal parade of horses down the main streets of San José. Riders from across the country come to the city to show off their best mounts and formal duds. Today's tope includes much more than stately horses and their proud riders. Other folkloric elements have been introduced such as horse-drawn carriages and the famous hand-painted oxcarts.

Bullfights are synonymous with the season's festivities in Costa Rica. However, due to the cancellation of the Zapote Fair, that included the hull ring and bull fights, Ticos will have to wait for the Palmares and other small town fairs that will begin in January.

The most popular phase of the Tico bullfight is the run when dozens of young men race into the ring en masse with the intention of frightening the bull and provoking it to attack. Although the bull is never harmed, occasionally one of the men is gored. The whole thing is a performance designed to release adrenaline, relieving the frustrations of the past year.

Thanks to the Costa Rican government every worker in the country has extra money in December to spend on gifts.

The "aguinaldo" is a government declared Christmas bonus, given to every employee - both private and public sector - in the country by his or her employer. It is equivalent to a full month's pay.

Costa Rica was a Latin American pioneer in the establishment of this mandatory bonus.

There is also a special drawing worth several million colones held during December by the National Lottery Commission. As Christmas Day approaches, much of the electricity in the air can be attributed to this Lotería Navideña or "El Gordo" as it is commonly known.

On New Year's Day all Tica (Costa Rican women)  housewives prepare for the coming year by sweeping out the house, from one end to the other, removing the past year's bad luck and beginning anew.

Traditional seasonal foods include the "tamal" (corn flour dough stuffed with potatoes, vegetables and pork or chicken, then boiled in plantain leaves). Inviting a friend for a tamal is holiday tradition, one that cannot be easily refused without risking offence.

The closing ceremony to the Christmas season isn't until January sixth (traditionally the date the three wise men arrived to worship Jesus) when neighbors get together for a special prayer for the Baby Jesus. Family and friends pray the rosary and sing Christmas carols. Then food is offered and the nativity scene is disassembled and put away until next year.

Merry Christmas!