Christmas Cultures
Argentina 
Armenia 
Australia 
Belgium 
Brazil 
Canada 
China 
Costa Rica 
Czech Rep. 
Democratic Republic of the Congo 
Denmark 
Egypt 
Ethiopia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Ghana 
Greece 
Greenland 
Guatemala 
Holland 
Hong Kong 
Hungary 
Iceland 
India 
Ireland 
Italy 
Jamaica 
Japan 
Latvia 
Lebanon 
Madagascar 
Mali 
Malta 
Mexico 
New Zealand 
Nigeria 
Norway 
Pakistan 
Palestine 
Philippines 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Russia 
Serbia 
Slovakia 
South Africa 
South Korea 
Spain 
Sri Lanka 
Sweden 
Taiwan 
Trinidad and Tobago 
U.K. 
U.S.A. 
Venezuela 
Vietnam 
Zambia 
Zimbabwe
Christmas in Costa Rica
During Christmas in Costa Rica, people like to decorate their houses with beautiful tropical flowers. A model of the nativity scene, called the Pasito or Portal, is the center of the display. It's also decorated with flowers and sometimes fruit. Some of the scene take a long time to make and all the family is involved. As well as the traditional figures, people add other models including houses and lots of different sorts of animals.
Christmas wreaths are made of cypress branches and are decorated with red coffee berries and ribbons. Most homes, shops and important buildings are decorated with Christmas lights.
In Costa Rica, the gift bringer is often 'Niño dios' (Child God, meaning Jesus) or 'Colacho' (another name for St. Nicholas).
On Christmas Eve, everyone puts on their best clothes and goes to Midnight Mass. In Costa Rica it's called the 'Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster); it's also called that is Spain.
After Midnight Mass the main Christmas meal is eaten. It normal includes chicken and pork tamales that have been wrapped for cooking in plantain leaves. To drink there's lots of egg nog and rum punch!
After Christmas, and into January, there are lots of fiestas, parades, rodeos, street parties, bull runs and choral and dance festivals. On 26th December (Boxing Day) there is an important horseback parade called the Tope. The next on the the 27th, many towns and cities have 'Carnaval' with a big parade featuring dancing and big floats.
