Today (January 6th) is Dia de los Reyes ( Three Kings day or the start of Epiphany). In Mexico and particularly in Jaltemba Bay the day will be celebrated by the giving of gifts and the eating of the Rosca de Reyes (bread ring of the kings).
Most people will be familiar with the story of the three wise men following the start to Bethlehem bringing gifts to the baby Jesus. This year in Guayabitos they were featured in nativity scenes with their gifts.
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For more traditional Mexicans this is the day that gifts are given to children rather than on December 25th but in my experience children seem to receive the larger gifts more commonly on the 25th.
This evening most Mexican families will celebrate the event by eating the Rosca de Reyes which is on sale in most food stores and on the street.
It will be accompanied by hot chocolate. This medium sized one costs 140 pesos and would serve a family of 8 to 12. It is not served as a desert but rather as the late evening meal called cena at about 8 pm.
The bready, sweet cake contains several “monitos”, small plastic figures of the baby Jesus. The people who find the monitos in their piece of cake will host the meal of tamales that will be served on February 2nd to mark the end of the Christmas celebrations.
Epiphany starts on January 6th and ends with Candlemas on February 2nd. Candlemas is also known as the Feast of Purification. For Christian the celebration marks the day on which the baby Jesus was presented in the Temple.
For us it falls on January 6 but for Roman Catholics in many countries it is celebrated on the Sunday that falls between January 2 and January 8. For those who celebrate according to the Julian Calendar it will be around the 19th of January.
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