how's it going guys welcome back to yet another episode of the UMC in podcast it has been a crazy year for all of us including you guys hopefully you have had time enough for visiting Cuba and if you haven't go and visit Cuba in 2024 which is going to blow your mind because Cuba is always changing and hopefully once you visit Cuba you have the best experience ever at the end of the video I'm going to suggest you guys how you can do that so if you want to check it out stay tuned Okay so today I have a list here here are top 10 things that Cuban people do during the festive season number one is the parandas if you don't know anything about or anything related to what the parandas are basically I would say the par parandas is like um they are like festivals stuff like that like each for example each City in Cuba have different paranda basically besides call paranda I would say the cuan people are very festive or you know Festival human beings basically because we're always uh thinking about potties and what can we do and we're not okay so number two and this one is is so funny is roasting a pig in Spanish we call this like doing Leon lechon is the pig and every year the Cuban we we basically we eat pig that's like the main I would say dish that we tried basically is like white rice with black beans pig Yuka and salad that's what we get okay but in the description that I put here it says Christmas Eve is marked by the grand fist if you have visited Cuba before you know what I'm talking about a non Cuban celebration is complete without a succulent roast Pig that is true and actually um every year we try to get the pig even if is complicated because if the food in Cuba has been like a little more complicated every single year to get but we try to eat big that's what most people look for families gather to enjoy the crispy skin and tender meat at the Leonas and holiday and in holidays delicacy this is like a legacy Cuban Legacy like every year Cubans no matter where they come from whether it's the countryside or or the city or whatever they all of them all of us including me we look for this near if food and actually when people ask me what do you think about the Cuban food or what what's your favorite favorite Cuban food I will highly recommend you guys to try that in my opinion it's the best because of the Varity like is going to be very Cuban giving that experience not only like eating but the experience of like I don't want to see the word kill but if you kill the pig and you roast it and you put all this this asson that you have to and you mix it and the vi and you're drinking rum and you're sharing with your friends with your you know family all that Cuban tradition is Mak you feel like you're in Cuba and it's something that you have to live yes or yes if you come to Cuban Christmas and you want to be involved with the humanity number three is midnight mass or miso this is something the cbans attend M um midnight mass known as miso where they come together to celebrate the birth of of Jesus the air is filled with traditional Carls and church and church bills ring out to announce the arrival of Christmas number four is dancing to son and salsa this is very basic like if you come to Cuba you must know at least how to dance uh salsa or son but uh if you don't and you come here in Christmas you're going to hear a listen music everywhere and people are going to be dancing everywhere that's pretty basic in Cuba actually Cuban people always say that is one of the most um I I don't know how to describe it but it Cuba as a country is very it's a festival you know what I mean it's always thinking about how to be happy all the all the problems that you could see in Cuba all the contrast think about Cuba and think about music think about festivals think about Patty and when you think about Cuban people Patty is involved that's why in Christmas Eve s song radon even is going to be involved music is an integral integral part of Cuban culture and Christmas is is not exception Cubans celebrate with life music and dance to the bits of son and salsa music creating a festive atmosphere atmosphere that last throughout the holid um the holiday season number five is elinaldo uh children go from house to house singing traditional Christmas Carls known as aguinaldos in exchange for a small gift or trats and is a her waren tradition that as a to of in sense to the Hol holiday spirit um when I was a kid we used to do this a lot but not asking for you know gifts or anything we used to go uh knock knocking doors like hey do you want to go outside and we used to do like crazy things like we're going to be talking about later but basically like carrying a bag and doing like in Spanish we call this Manana but it's basically like going around the same block wishing that someday you could travel lot of out of uh outside of the country but um nowadays is even more like International stuff but the Cuban one used to be like that number seven uh no number six is um decorating with tropical flare white uh while sow cover Landscapes are distant dream in Cuba the festive spirit is brought to life with colorful decorations Palm fronts and tropical flowers and B lights Trans forms homes and stra into a festive Paradise I have to tell you guys that this is not going to be seen everywhere but depending on where you stay or where you visit it might be uh something that you could see for example in their neighborhood where I'm currently living and actually if you have no idea I just moved I'm only five minutes from the airport it's even easier to see stuff like this if you go to Havana Central Central Havana or the Old Town depending or the streets where you go you might see this is stuff but if you go to some neighborhoods out there like U very contrasty places you're not going to see this okay so it's not going to be like hey let's go to Cuba you're going to see that no no no it's not going to be that easy but it's something that you could find depending on where you go right so the other one I think is the number seven um is lighting fireworks or for artificiales this one I would I would say that is if [Music] it's not common it's not common but it's something that I put here because when I was a kid I used to this I used to see this a lot and actually my mom I remember my mom at at the doorf of the of the house where we used to live she said hey Alex look at look at the F artificiales and it was beautiful because I was a kid living in Cuba and stuff like this for me was like pretty much weird and it was like very unique nowadays is even more complicated so if you want to see this you got to go to L Moro cab which is the Fortress and they do some stuff like that which is beautiful but it's not like very common stuff but it's something that you could see and actually something that youd have to visit just to see that you could see that in your country but in Cuba it's very like unique because it's not that common so once you see that you're going to be like wow you know that's something that for Cubans is mind blowing number eight is exchange ancient gift of uh Three Kings Day in Cuba for example the gift given tradition extends Beyond Christmas day to uh Three Kings Day the re maros on January uh 6 a family exchange G A Gift To commemorate the arrival of the three wise men this is something that most people do and actually not only for the kids but the Family itself people celebrate this and actually I think it's a holiday day um so it's holiday if you um come to CU on these days this is some something that you might take into account if you want to bring a present a present a present for some kids because uh they're going to appreciate it in Cuba these days very important for the kids and families take this into account when it comes to celebrating um Christmas in Cuba people are looking for all the time toys and things to give to the children so if you're are coming that day think about that number nine visit loved ones in cemeteries and um going to the cemetery is something that we all do every single year not only yearly but I would say monthly sometimes depend depending on who is in the cemetery perhaps is your mom or you know every any close uh family member for example my my grandfather um he used to go every single year and my stepfather he goes every single year to see her mama and that's something very Cuban very traditional that every year you go there and you put some flowers because you want to remember how happy your family was during that time and actually Christmas in Cuba during the 1969 it was prohibit but now that we're able to celebr break that people take that into account like let's do something together let's do a great party and actually this year I'm going to a friend of my house uh to celebrate that even though it's my friend and it's not my family is almost like a like a brother and uh the reason is because we want to to make that happen you know to keep that VI no matter who you are because sometimes we spend a year with the family and the next year we're going to be able to spend that with a friend and you never know who's going to leave the country next so you want to get that connection and be next to the people you love as soon as possible because you never know so the number 10 is enjoying traditional Swifts Christmas in Cuba is incomplete without uh inan and traditional suits like tones in in English is I think is noat or I don't know you let me know in the comments Below guys how do you say that and manados which is shortbread cookies these delect uh treats are sure among family and friends adding a sweet to and festivities those tones are basically like peanut but you go to the shop and you buy the classic ones but in Cuba there are some people who have no money to buy the tonis so they buy peanut peanut tonas or I don't know how to say that guys if you want to visit Cuba in Christmas I have to tell you in advance that this is one what I would say one of the best decisions that you're going to make it's going to be completely different whether it's because you want to see the contrast of Cuba you're going to have it just because you want to go to places like vinales for example and you want to see like this cigar uh sleeve uh like R you're going to have them the weather is going to be not that hot so it could be like 20 degrees sometimes or even 24 which for Cuba that's going to be pretty good so you're going to have a good weather so you can go to the beach and then you have the Christmas activities which in my opinion are going to be very lifechanging experiences because it's not going to be anything related to or anything um similar to whatever is that you have in the country that you're watching this from it's going to be pretty much like a very low Dimension but when it comes to impression or feeling is going to be even even bigger because of the way that we do celebrate things in Cuba people when they visit Cuba um I don't know why but they they think the way they change the way they think about life in Cuba um no matter where you're coming from Bic Cuba see it by yourself and you're get believe me you're gonna you're gonna change the way that you see everything and I'm talking like this because I don't know if you can see here but it's 12 12 a.m. and this is the time that I'm shooting this video for you guys because I've been super busy today but I had to and I didn't wanted to say goodbye until the next year without talking to you guys so that being said it was a pleasure to have you here if you want to visit Cuba next year go to aman.com we can help you guys providing you the the best Services accommodations activities here in Cuba all from the comfort so you can have whatever you want and at the same time us to have uh that contrast that so many of you are looking for when you visit a country like Cuba so it was a pleasure to have you here see all your smiling faces my name is Alex Rodriguez just in case you're new here thank you so much for watching and listening the podcast and welcome to Havana Cuba bcal and see you guys in the next epod ciao