CHRISTMAS GIFTS AND DECORATIONS

 Gifts

When Brazilians get together for Christmas, the whole family usually gets involved, from the closest family to cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins ​​and everyone else in any way related. As a result, the celebration involves a large group of people and gift giving can be expensive and time consuming. 

A popular way to approach gift-giving is a Secret Santa, or Hidden Friend, as it's known in Brazil, where each person is assigned the responsibility of buying a gift for one person without that person knowing. When it's time to give the gifts, the gift buyer will often describe the person until everyone guesses who it is before giving them their gift.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Many Brazilians decorate their homes to get into the Christmas spirit. Natural Christmas trees are common, but most Brazilians opt for artificial ones, decorating them with artificial snow to resemble the North Pole. Many cities and towns put decorations on utility poles during the holidays to unite citizens in Christmas cheer. 

Both public and private Christmas decorations include strings of lights and many of the most popular traditional symbols in the US and Canada, including Santa Claus, jingle bells, candy canes, and holly. According to tradition, Christmas decorations remain in place only until Three Kings Day on January 6, a public holiday that marks the official end of the Christmas season.

Christmas day by Jeniffer Cruz