When I was a kid you would go see the Wise Men at the main square or park in town. You'd take a picture with all three and it was your chance to let them know what you wanted as a present (similar to taking the kids to see Santa in the U.S.). Another opportunity to see them is to attend a Calbagata de Reyes or Cavalcade of the Magi parade (not all towns have it, in some cities in Spain it is a very elaborate one).
As you may know I've been away from my homeland for a few years. I keep connected with friends and family via email and social media. It was on Facebook that I've noticed that some traditions have changed or evolved. Here are a couple of the trends regarding how people celebrate the Epiphany in Mexico that I've discovered.
It is very common that kids send their letters to the Wise Men by "air mail". A kid ties his letter with a string and attaches it to a balloon, then releasing the balloon and sees it fly away. Many schools do it as an activity to get all the kids from the school involved. Some families do it on their own or with their neighbors.
Another way to let the Wise Men know what toys you would like to receive is quite interesting to me. Some parents let their kids tie their letter to a small sky lantern (globos de cantolla) and then releasing them. In some towns a community event is organized so that many lanterns are released at the same time and all illuminate the night sky.
Sometimes this is done on the night of January 5th or the weekend previous to the arrival of the Wise Men on January 6th. So the big question now is:
what did the Wise Men bring you?
P.S.
Make sure to read Part 1 here.
