Costa+Rica

The Republic of Costa Rica, both discovered and named by Christopher Columbus, has an extravagant scenery that one may view as they travel. There are beautiful tropical plants and volcanoes, two of which are still active. One of the most commonly grown crops are bananas. As for geography, Costa Rica is the smallest country in Central America. It is located between Nicaragua and Panama. The capitol city is San Jose and the population of about 3.5 million people. The government system is a democratic-republican system much that of the United States. This government took hold after Costa Rica gained independence from Spain around 1821.

=__**Christmas In**__ __**Rica**__= Most Costa Ricans celebrate a Catholic Christmas. They have Mary, the baby Jesus and Joesph. One tradition in Costa Rica is known as los posados. Posados translated in english means inn. Los posados celebrates Mary and Joesphs journey to Bethlehem. The children go from house to house asking for a place to stay but find no place untill alas they reach the last house where they are excepted into the house. They have food such as [|tamales] and many other foods. Traditonally there are nine houses to stop at as they travel. With each house they are denied a place to stay just like Mary and Joesph were denied a place to stay at all the inns they stopped at. Then as they come upon the last house they find a place for them to stay. Representing when Mary and Joesph found a place in the manger.

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=__Festival De La Luz__=
 * Festival de la Luz or The festival of lights is a newer Christmas tradition in Costa Rica that has been happenning for over ten years. They light up their capitol city San Jose. Over a million people spectators either come to San Jose or enjoy the parade from their living rooms. One may compare the parade to that of the Macys parde in New York City (USA). They have large floats that in some way, shape, or form represent a company. Some floats have big celeberties on them. Marching bands will march in the parade, and after the parade has ended fireworks are set off. The parade is ment to begin the Christmas festivites and welcome a new year.**



__Works Cited__

" Real Homemade Tamales Recipe - Allrecipes.com ." //Allrecipes.com - recipes, menus, meal ideas, food, and cooking tips.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

" Disney's Las Posadas - YouTube ."//YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

"Christmas Traditions in Costa Rica."//Costa Rica Vacations//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

"Christmas Traditions in Costa Rica."//Christmas Traditions//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .

"Festival of Lights brings over a million people into San Jose | The Costa Rica News." //The Costa Rica News | English Online Newspaper//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

Hubbard, Kirsten. "Christmas in Costa Rica - Costa Rica Christmas Traditions." //Central America Travel - Central America Travel Guide - Travel in Central America//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

"maps of costa rica - Bing Images."//Bing//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. .

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Angela