Christmas Carols Little Donkey was our skit last year to be performed on Christmas Eve. We were a group of twelve kids and for all of us it was a big honour to be performing with a donkey!

We initially were quite confused as to how we would be communicating with our team mate. But then Ms. June; our play teacher told us that this little donkey was specially sent by Santa for us and he could speak and understand English. We were glorified and couldn’t thank Santa enough who was so nice to send us such a cute and adorable little donkey.

We were divided into two groups. Group A would sing and recite the poem; and Group B would enact the verses alongside. We all were overjoyed to know that both groups would have their own donkey. Ms. June also promised that if we would be good and performed well, she would take us to Galley’s fair on New Year’s Eve and would treat us with a ride on a real super donkey!!

We all received a separate copy of the poem and were told to memorize the verses fluently in a week’s time. I was in group A and we were to recite the poem.

My mother helped me quite a lot in this endeavor and I mastered the poem in the next five days…you don’t believe me? Okay, I’ll recite for you. Here it goes:

Little Donkey – A Christmas Poem,
By: Eric Boswell

Little donkey, little donkey,
On the dusty road.
Got to keep on plodding onwards,
With your precious load.

Been a long time, little donkey,
Through the winter’s night.
Don’t give up now, little donkey,
Bethlehem’s in sight

Ring out those bells tonight
Bethlehem, Bethlehem.
Follow that star tonight,
Bethlehem, Bethlehem.

Little donkey, little donkey,
Had a heavy day.
Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way.

Little donkey, little donkey,
On the dusty road.
There are wise men waiting for a
Sign to bring them here.

Do not falter, little donkey,
There’s a star ahead.
It will guide you, little donkey,
To a cattle shed.
Yes I know you are surprised and happy…you could clap a little louder!

Ms. June was also very happy and the next weekend when each of us in the group was supposed to recite the poem, I was appreciated and ‘keep up the good work’, was my compliment for the day. I came back home, threw my arms around mommy; kissed her and gave her the same compliment. After all, she was the one who had helped me learn the verse so well.

In the meanwhile group B kept practicing their act and they too were ready for the show.

The next week group A and B were supposed to practice together. Yes you got it right…we were to sing and enact the whole skit together. It was a big day and so I requested mommy to make me two glasses of chocolate milk shake that morning. It just helped me gain energy for the day!

The practice session was hence the best goal and we were all set for our final stage show.

On Christmas Eve mommy and papa gifted me a book of popular Christmas carols. My happiness knew no bounds and I couldn’t wait to show my team mates and Ms. June my grand gift.

After the show that evening Ms. June congratulated us and told us that the show was one of the best she had ever seen. We knew that her promise awaited our visit to Galley’s fair. Also we were gifted with our own personal donkey! I then showed all of them my gift and everyone seemed to beam with happiness.

Thus Christmas last year was great grand and wonderful. I know it will be equally merry this year as well…wish u all merry Christmas and do have a real good time!!

Christmas songs are as diverse and assorted as one can think of. There is an incredible variety of Christmas carol songs that have been created throughout the years. Those who have grown up in snowy regions may recall the sledge rides and caroling around trees.

The arrival of Christmas is reminded by a blend of many factors. For some it is about more specific things, like the change in season, or decorations inside malls and buildings with wreaths, Christmas lights, and red-n-white canes. Mixing the visual laments with audible ones reminds you of beautiful Christmas memories. With Christmas carols sung by pop singers, the releasing of Christmas albums and with the traditional Christmas songs played in the radio or on your favorite video channel, you are sure to experience the initiation of holiday season.

Bing Crosby and sleigh bells are some of the popular carols heard during the white Christmas.

Christmas from early seventies, eighties and nineties through Vietnam, Gulf War, Granada and current wars reflects the true meaning imparted by these Christmas Songs. And no one can forget those wonderful Bing Crosby and Perry Como Christmas specials that are filled with striking Christmas songs.

Many of us would fondly recall an earful of kids songs, ranted by The Chipmunks.“All I Want for Christmas” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus are some other favorite Christmas songs of kids”

Like many other things, Christmas songs still continue to evolve. From the stirring classics like “O Holy Night” and “Little Drummer Boy,” Christmas songs have gone into challenging, bonding, penetrating and spiritually inspiring realms. Just the sounds can inundate many wonderful memories of this special day.

Jingle Bells, The First Noel, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, The Christmas Song and Joy to the World remains amongst the most favorite Christmas songs even today. You may have grown up listening to these old Christmas compilation or you may have sung these choirs yourself, but you cannot ignore the fuzzy feeling that you get when you hear Christmas songs even as you get older. These beautiful Christmas songs communicate joy, peace and love that bring tenderness to everyone’s hearts during the holiday season. They connect friends and family together during moments of singing and helps in recalling some old memories. And most importantly, they remind us about the arrival of new season and the gift-giving.

The resonating sound of keyboard brings our sprits together during the season. And while we all may not be blessed with superior vocals, but we all are blessed with the beautiful gifts of friends and family. So whether or not you plan a small or large intimate holiday party, playing these celebrated Christmas songs will certainly bring back a lot of cherished memories to share with your near and dear ones.

People all across the world love celebrating Christmas but only few of them know the idea behind celebrating Christmas. Very few people know that the idea of celebrating Christmas dates back to the 4th Century. The festival was started by the Catholic Church because the rival pagan religion was threatening the existence of Christianity. At that time there were different religions who were trying to survive and celebrating a special day was the best way of grabbing the attention of the people.

Have you ever thought why 25th of December was kept as the date of Christ’s birth. The only reason why Christ’s birthday was celebrated on the 25th of December is that the Catholics wanted to compete with the Romans. The Romans used to celebrate the birth of their sun god ‘Mithras’ in order to encounter them the church leaders decided to celebrate the birth of Christ at the same time of the year. The date 25th December was as it collided head on with the rival Pagan religion.

But once Pagans were subsided Christianity spread like wild fire. Soon after people all across the world were seen celebrating 25th December as the birth date of Jesus Christ. But nowadays the Christmas celebrations are quite varied but there is a reason behind each tradition. If you want to understand the secrets behind some major Christmas traditions then you must read the following pointers:

• Santa Claus is one of the major characters related to Christmas and you will be surprised to know that Santa Claus originated in Turkey. His actual name was St Nicholas who was very pious and devoted his entire life to Christianity and helping the poor.
• Christmas tree holds a lot of importance in the festival as well. But you will be amazed to know that the Christmas tree originated in Germany. It is also believed that Martin Luther was the first person to light a Christmas tree. But the most amazing thing is that the Christmas tree was not widely used in Britain until the 19 century AD.
• The hard candies is one of the another very famous Christmas item. It is believed that hard candies have been around for several hundreds of years but the truth is that these were introduced in the early 1900’s. These were initially provided to the children in order to keep them quiet during church services.

Each and every Christmas celebration item has a story behind it which is quite interesting but only very few people know about it.

Christmas in South America is vivid and colourful with splendid celebrations that differ from countries to countries. In Bolivia, Christmas is the season of harvest festival, whereas in some other countries unique rituals make Christmas a season of joy and merriment.

To Bolivians, Christmas is a feast of adoration of the Goddess Mother Earth. It is the season in which the people give the account of the past years work and calculate the amount of work to be done for the next year. Christmas in South America varies from the Christmas celebrations of the world in Brazil in certain aspects. The concept of Santa Claus is little heard of in Brazil. In some regions, a concept of Christmas father is heard, but he is called Papa Noel. In Brazil, despite of making Christmas trees, the children used to make Christmas cribs. The Christmas celebrations of Brazilians are almost similar to those of USA and UK. Christmas meal is common in all houses including the rich and the poor.

In Bolivia, the Christmas celebrations centre on the church and the family with many days long prayers and rituals. As Chile features a warm climate, the chimneys are usually short and it is believed that the Christmas Papa (known in Chile by the name Viejito Pascuero) climbs these chimneys to place gifts for the children. The children also make small clay figures to place under the Christmas trees on the Christmas eve.

The children of Ecuador celebrate Christmas in a very different way, by writing letters to infant Jesus. This is not only a unique tradition in the celebrations of Christmas in South America, but also in world, such a custom is little known. Besides, the children place a single shoe on the window sills, so that when Jesus makes an anonymous visit at homes, he can put a toy there as a gift. Noisy toys are a part of the Christmas celebrations in Ecuador.

Christmas in South America has certain common features in all countries. The display of presepio (the Christmas crib) is the most prominent of them all. Usually, in some houses a whole room is designed with the presepio display often featuring sceneries and surroundings of the place where Christ was born.

In Argentina, people go to mass in the church and come back for the Christmas dinner. Dance of the senior members of the family takes place at homes after the dinner, while the youth go outside for watching the fireworks displays. The people of Argentina celebrate Christmas of December 24 and their celebrations are marked with dinners with several dishes like pork, turkey, etc.

In Venezuela the celebrations last from December 16 to January 16. Carol services and firecrackers are a part of the celebrations. A legend in connection with the Ethiopian King Balthazar is also heard among the Christmas traditions in Venezuela.

Christmas in Venezuela is celebrated with a number of religious and traditional customs. Since a majority here follows Roman Catholicism, celebrating the birth of baby Jesus is an important part of the festivities. Christmas is the main holiday during which Venezuelan families get together and celebrate.

The religious celebrations commence more than a week before on 16th of December with masses every morning through to December 24th, when the midnight service (Misa de Gallo) is held. In the capital city of Caracas, it is customary to roller-skate to this service and many neighborhoods close the streets to cars until 8 in the morning

The main celebration begins on Christmas Eve. Families and friends come together to enjoy the traditional holiday meal comprising ‘hallacas’, long breads filled with cooked ham and raisins known as ‘pan de jamón’ and ‘dulce de lechoza’, a dessert made of green papaya and brown sugar, cooked bit by bit for hours and served cold.

Christmas trees are put up and adorned in most homes. The most indisputable Venezuelan convention, however, is the displaying of a nacimiento (Nativity scene). The pesebre is a more refined version of nacimiento, sometimes becoming a real piece of art by its own right. Representing an entire region with mountains, hills, plains and valley, it has a replica of the manger at Bethlehem in the centre.

Children wake up to find their gifts around the Nacimiento or the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. According to the Venezuelan tradition, it is the Child Jesus who brings gifts to the Venezuelan children instead of Santa Claus.

Music is an important part of the celebrations and traditional songs called aguinaldos are played at this time. In the olden days, the aguinaldos singers (called aguinalderos)   would go home to home singing songs and playing traditional instruments.

Some fun facts about Venezuela to know the country better:

• Venezuela nurtures one of the largest waterfalls in the world, Angel Falls.
• There are only two seasons in Eastern Venezuela: hot and dry, and hot and wet.
• Hot showers are difficult to find in Venezuela.
• The official name of Venezuela is ‘Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’. Venezuela got independence from Spain in 1811 and became an independent republic in 1821.  The main languages spoken here include Spanish and its indigenous dialects.
• Venezuela is one of the most urbanized countries in Latin America. It is also one of the oldest democracies in South America.
• This country is immensely rich in biodiversity. Canaima National Park is one of the largest national parks in the world and Lake Maracaibo is regarded as the largest lake in South America. The country’s highest point is at Pico Bolivar (5000 m.).
• Venezuela was first found by Christopher Columbus.
• Venezuela literally means ‘Little Venice’. The country was so named by its explorers because of its resemblance to Venice.
• Slavery was abolished here in 1854.
• Venezuela was one of the founding members of OPEC. It has the largest proven oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest natural gas reserves.
• The petroleum industry accounts for half of the revenue of the Venezuelan government.

There is a lot more about this country that you’d like to know as you go visit this beautiful Latin American country inhabited by beautiful people (literally!).

Christmas in Yugoslavia depends much on the age old traditions and customs. As the harbingers of Christmas, the second Sunday prior to the Christmas is celebrated as the Mother’s day, on which, the children play affectionate pranks on their mothers and extend them Mother’s Day wishes. The children tie mother’s feet to a chair and sing,

“Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day,                           What will you pay to get away!

The children free the mother only when she gives them presents. The next coming Sunday is the Father’s Day and the same pranks are repeated on their fathers by the children on this day.

A concept of Christmas log is popular in association with Christmas in Yugoslavia. Someone watches the Christmas log burning with full vigil the whole night as they believe that if the log burns out due to the carelessness, it would bring bad luck to the whole next year.

The Christmas cake in Yugoslavia is known by the name Chestnitsa. A gold or silver coin is hid secretly while preparing it and the one who gets it can expect a lot of good luck for the coming year. Another Christmas tradition in Yugoslavia is in connection with the Christmas pig. The roast pig has to be carved in a unique traditional way so that it is difficult to explain. The roast pig is an essential item of the Christmas dinner.

Every house in Yugoslavia must possess a Christmas crib and they used to decorate it in the Christmas season with moss collected from the forest. The Christmas carol is often sung accompanied by the music box, which surely included in the household possessions.

The tradition of Christmas tree signifying Jesus Christ’s birth came into the customs of Christmas in Yugoslavia only in the 18th century. Before that, there was a tradition of fresh green shoot. By December 22 (the Winter Solstice), a fresh green shoot is brought inside the home, which signifies the birth of a new life apart from health, happiness and living strength.

Another custom is carried out by the shepherd and carol singers, who bring the Birch twigs to the houses. As the next, they would sing verses to bring health and wealth to everyone. The greetings also include a rich harvest and prosperous financial state for the coming year. The Yugoslavs also believe that the evergreen tree branches have the power to prevent any bad omens, which are brought by the evil spirits and demons.

Many of the traditions in association with Christmas in Yugoslavia had been actually influenced by Pagan traditions, rather than Christianity. Because of that, there are so many seemingly superstitious traditions existing in connection with the celebrations of Christmas in Yugoslavia.