With the holiday season here and 2023 coming to a close, KUNR asked community members to share their holiday and winter traditions. The station received responses in both English and Spanish, the following is one of the responses received.
Alejandra Ramírez Aguillón recently moved to Reno with her husband and children, after living in several cities across the U.S. Originally from Mexico, Ramírez Aguillón lived in different cities there, including La Paz, Baja California Sur, and Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Her extended family is coming from Mexico to Reno, to visit for the holidays. Ramírez Aguillón said they’ll be celebrating with all of their Mexican traditions, including a Christmas piñata, which she and her kids have already picked out.
"My Mexican traditions are absolutely linked to the Catholic religion,” Ramírez Aguillón said in Spanish. “I chose a piñata with points on it, cones made of cardboard that are attached to the center of the piñata. The points symbolize the seven deadly sins and the idea is that you have to knock down or hit the piñata representing those sins, to destroy them.”
She says that celebrating with a piñata represents starting the new year fresh.
“We’re definitely going to hit a piñata,” she said. “We’re definitely going to ask for posada, (lodging). It’s a singing activity that, to me, is fascinating.”
A posada is a call-and-response tradition that represents Mary and Joseph searching for a safe place to stay where Mary could give birth to Jesus. One group of family and friends goes from house to house, or room to room, asking those inside for a place to stay, until they are finally let in.
Food also plays a significant role in the celebration.
“We'll try to eat tamales. I don't promise we'll make them, but we'll try to buy some,” she said.
Ramírez Aguillón also said that they’ll prepare a fruit punch known as ponche, made with specific ingredients like hibiscus water, cinnamon, sugar cane and tejocote (Mexican hawthorn).
“I want to reinforce this part of my family’s Mexican identity at home. And of course, for me, [these traditions] symbolize being in Mexico,” she said.
Thank you to the community members who submitted their holiday traditions to KUNR. For additional examples of how the KUNR team is listening to the Northern Nevada and Eastern California community, check out the KUNR FAQ and content guide.
