Topic Talk | 3 Kings Day

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl tells Jack about the Mexican holiday 3 Kings Day.Transcript:00:00:01JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and today I'm here with my co-host social. And this is a new kind of episode that I like to call, topic talks and so social. What is today's topic or the topic talk?00:00:20XochitlUh, today's topic tag is a cultural holiday tradition called 3 Kings Day, and it's a holiday celebrated on January 6th and we celebrate in Mexico and I'm not sure if we celebrate it in other places of Latin America, but it celebrates when the three kings visited the baby Jesus.00:00:41XochitlYou brought gifts. So in Mexico you don't actually get your gifts on Christmas and stuff you. I mean, you can, but you usually get your gifts on three Kings Day.00:00:52JackOhh really you get?00:00:53JackYour your gifts on three Kings Day for not not.00:00:58XochitlYeah, I mean, I got.00:01:00XochitlGifts both days growing up, I split, split them up like between Christmas and three Wednesday.00:01:09XochitlBut traditionally in Mexico, you do get your gifts on three Kings Day so.00:01:16JackAnd and this also we should let our listeners know, this is like a this is from the the Christian Bible. The idea that on the on I guess it was when when Christ was Jesus was born.00:01:31JackBarn 3 Kings presented him with gifts, right? Gold, frankincense and myrrh.00:01:42JackIs that what it?00:01:42발표자Yeah, yeah.00:01:42JackIs OK alright. I don't know what Murray is. Actually, I don't know what frankincense is either, but.00:01:47XochitlFrankincense is a type of like it's a it's like a potpourri, or like an incense type of thing. It's a smell. I've smelled it before. It's kind of it smells kind of like minty.00:01:55JackOK. OK. OK.00:02:02XochitlBut look really sweet. I don't know.00:02:03JackThat's nice. Oh, OK. OK. Frank, it's. I mean, it kind of sounds like frankincense kind of sounds like some kind of incense. You know, like it comes to the word incense, but, but murder?00:02:03XochitlHow to?00:02:05XochitlIt is nice.00:02:13XochitlRight, yeah.00:02:16XochitlYeah, I don't know what that one is.00:02:19XochitlI'll be honest.00:02:19JackWhat is that? OK. All right. Have no idea if you know what Mer is. Please let us know. Send us.00:02:20XochitlI have no.00:02:21XochitlI don't have that one.00:02:24XochitlAn e-mail leave us a comment.00:02:29XochitlOr time in the we chat or.00:02:30XochitlWhatsApp groups, but uh.00:02:32XochitlYeah. So what we do typically is that we exchange gifts on this day kind of like you would for Christmas and then we.00:02:42XochitlCut up the roska, which is a three kings cake or King's cake. Kind of like Mardi Gras where you have.00:02:48XochitlKing's cake it's.00:02:49XochitlA similar kind of consistency. It's flavored with orange and anise seed.00:02:55XochitlAnd it has, like marzipan and cherries and candied orange peels. UM on the top.00:03:04XochitlAnd the very interesting.00:03:05JackOhh nice.00:03:06XochitlYeah, it is really tasty. I had two pieces, but the really interesting part about this pastry, it's shaped like a ring and everyone cuts their own peace. And if you get there's three plastic baby jesuses inside the.00:03:24XochitlThe cake and if you get a baby Jesus on February 2nd, you have to make tomorrow's for every.00:03:32JackOh, really? OK.00:03:36JackDid you get a baby Jesus?00:03:38XochitlNo, I I have a few tricks up.00:03:40XochitlMy sleeve Jack. So.00:03:42JackNobody wants.00:03:42JackA baby Jesus. You don't want a baby Jesus.00:03:45XochitlYou don't want a baby Jesus because then you have to make tomorrow and no one wants to make tamales. So I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I use to avoid the baby. Jesuses #1 is.00:03:57XochitlThe riskiest part is when you've cut your first piece of cake, you're pretty much.00:04:02XochitlIt's just your luck on luck.00:04:04JackYou got you go.00:04:04JackLeft or you go right. I mean that's it, right? I mean, right.00:04:07XochitlYeah, you have no pretty much no.00:04:12XochitlSay you kind of want to be in the middle.00:04:14XochitlOf the pack because.00:04:18XochitlIf you are the first person to cut, you have no idea. And if you're the last person to cut, then unless everyone else magically got a baby Jesus, which is very unlikely, then you're running out of space. You know what I mean? Like.00:04:31XochitlYou're running out.00:04:32XochitlOf real estate there. So it's likely that you're getting a baby Jesus, but if you're.00:04:36XochitlSomewhere in the middle of the pack.00:04:37XochitlIf someone just got a baby, the best time to go is.00:04:39XochitlIf someone just got a baby.00:04:41JackYeah, go right next to their their baby Jesus because.00:04:45XochitlThanks. Yeah.00:04:46JackThere's not going to be two.00:04:47JackBaby Jesus, next to each other, right?00:04:49XochitlYeah, they're not right next to each other. So I mean, when I used to make it, sometimes I put them.00:04:53XochitlNext to each other.00:04:56JackYou trick people, OK?00:04:57XochitlYeah, but you don't know where.00:05:01XochitlYou don't know where you they are. Even if you baked it, because once you bake it, you bake it with the baby.00:05:05XochitlJuice inside by.00:05:06XochitlThe way I know that can't be good for you.00:05:09XochitlBut or maybe?00:05:09JackThat can't be good, that those those are forever plastic chemicals, you know, so.00:05:14XochitlI know, but yeah. But you.00:05:16XochitlForget by the time it's ready where you put the baby Jesus. So it's like you.00:05:22XochitlThat's the best time is what right after someone got a baby Jesus.00:05:26XochitlThe other thing the other way that.00:05:28XochitlI avoid it is.00:05:30XochitlIf you already got a baby dude so you can eat as many slices as you want because getting the 2nd baby juices doesn't make you have to make more tamales.00:05:37JackNo, it's you're already. You're already done anyway. You're you're you've lost already, so.00:05:38XochitlWell, it's.00:05:43XochitlI just avoid a second slice until everyone has already.00:05:47XochitlGotten a baby Jesus? Like if they've already found three baby jesuses, then I can have as many slices as I want, but I tend.00:05:53XochitlTo hold out until that point.00:05:55JackOK.00:05:56JackOK.00:05:57JackWhat about? I'm just, I'm just brainstorming here, but what if?00:06:00JackYou cut really slowly.00:06:03JackAnd then you feel the plastic, you know, baby Jesus kind of touch the knife.00:06:10JackBut you can feel which side the the baby Jesus is on.00:06:14JackAnd then you cut the other go. The other way is that does that count? Or if you touch the baby Jesus with the knife, does that mean you you're now making tamales for everybody?00:06:25XochitlYes, because if you even if it peeks out, like even if you slice didn't have any, if you can see it when you cut it, like if it's in the then it's yours.00:06:34JackOh, OK, OK. So you.00:06:36XochitlPut it with the knife and you like moved your knife because you felt it. Everyone would. Everyone's watching you cut. So everyone be like you felt it. So you're making it tomorrow. Like they don't care. But I'll be really dirty. Trick that I used to have up my sleeve when I was a kid. Is that when everyone was distracted? I would. It's like a.00:06:54JackYou would poke a toothpick in there.00:06:57XochitlNo, I would pick it up and look at the bottom because you can see the.00:07:00XochitlHoles where they put the baby juices in.00:07:04JackSo you would know exactly where not to OK.00:07:08XochitlYeah, we're not to cut. And just, like, make a mental note of it. That was when I was younger I.00:07:12XochitlTried not to be that unfair.00:07:14JackYeah, that's some serious cheating right there. But yeah, you must be making tamales. Must be really awful. Must must be.00:07:21XochitlIt's not awful, but it's a lot of work, like no one to do it because you have to sit around. It's like an all day of Fair like you have to make the dough. You gotta boil the pork. You have to make the sauce. So that goes in there like you have. There's so many components to the ceiling and then you have to wrap each individual tomorrow. And you have to steam them in a pot, then you're done.00:07:24JackOK, OK.00:07:41XochitlSo it's like all the affair.00:07:43XochitlSo just no one.00:07:43JackI love tamales though. Ohh my gosh.00:07:46JackThey're so good.00:07:47XochitlI'm actually not a fan.00:07:48XochitlOf tamales either actually. So that's like.00:07:50JackReally. Ohh like that? I don't I.00:07:52JackThink I like them.00:07:54XochitlMore little ones with banana like that are wrapped in banana leaves. I do love those, but other other ones. I'm not a huge fan of. Yeah. So that's kind of the the big thing is like the excitement about whether you're gonna find a baby Jesus or not.00:08:08XochitlAnd do you have like hot cocoa or, you know, you drink it with like hot cocoa usually?00:08:13XochitlBecause it's not a super sweet. It's like it's kind.00:08:15XochitlOf a sweet.00:08:16XochitlBread, pastry kind of thing, but it's not very sweet. It's not like American pastries.00:08:21XochitlWhere it's like.00:08:21XochitlA mouthful of sugar. It's like a.00:08:22JackRight, right, right. Yeah.00:08:23XochitlVery light beef bread.00:08:25XochitlSo you dip it in your hot chocolate to complement it.00:08:29XochitlUM.00:08:31XochitlAnd that's kind of how you do it you.00:08:33XochitlKnow so.00:08:34JackSun right, actually.00:08:36XochitlYeah, it is really nice. I actually do, really.00:08:38XochitlEnjoy it and.00:08:40발표자Like did you?00:08:40JackGuys stretch out the holiday season even a little bit farther.00:08:43XochitlOh, ohhh yeah, we're bad in Mexico. If you if you whenever. If you ever moved to Mexico or go travel to Mexico or something. Everything. I mean, except businesses, some businesses and stuff, but any kind of like paperwork, anything like that is shut down completely from like December through the end of January.00:09:05XochitlDecember starts Posadas all the way until December 24th. Posadas are like.00:09:10XochitlWhen you know.00:09:11XochitlHow Mary and Joseph asked for a place to stay like they asked for refuge, I guess.00:09:17JackYeah, yeah, yeah.00:09:18XochitlSo you go around knocking. I told you about this before.00:09:21XochitlBut you go.00:09:22XochitlAround knocking door.00:09:22XochitlTo door and you like get hot chocolate and there's like party. It's like a part.00:09:26XochitlEvery night up until Christmas Eve. Then you party on Christmas. Then it's like you have New Year's. Then you have they smuggle. But January 6. And then there's still more stuff that you're doing up until February 2nd, where you have the people come back and have the tamales.00:09:47JackI love it. I love it. Months of celebrations? Yeah, that's.00:09:48XochitlSo it's just a party all through December and January.00:09:54XochitlIt's like doing some partying. Yeah, yeah.00:09:57JackI like it. I like it.00:09:59XochitlVery festive culture, which is something I appreciate and something a lot of.00:10:03XochitlPeople like but.00:10:04XochitlA lot of people aren't prepared for it when they move their full time because they get angry because they're like, why are there fireworks waking me up at 2:00 AM every night? It's like, well, they're.00:10:13XochitlPart people are partying cause it's like a patron, St's birthday or some kind of holiday. It's like pretty much every week there's a holiday of some sort.00:10:22JackRight. It's the day before the day before the three Kings Day. And it's the day after, you know? Yeah.00:10:23XochitlAnd they're not all set.00:10:28XochitlRight.00:10:29XochitlYeah, they after this. So it's kind of like it's a big celebratory culture and a lot of people enjoy that. But again, they're not really like ready for it because it's a lot of.00:10:41XochitlCommunity and like in America, we're so individualistic and we're so reserved and we don't like loud noises and we're very bothered by.00:10:51XochitlThose couple things and like it's something that I feel like a lot of Americans are really not prepared for when they move to Mexico. I see so many complaints on expat groups like why are people putting on fireworks? My poor dog is scared. I'm scared. I don't like the noise. I can't.00:11:07XochitlSleep and like it's.00:11:08XochitlJust that's how it is here.00:11:11XochitlI guess that it is better. Yeah, or. Yeah. But it's like not going to change anytime soon because it's just part of the culture, a huge part.00:11:11JackYeah, accept it or leave God love it.00:11:15JackLeave it.00:11:21XochitlOf the culture so.00:11:23XochitlYeah. All right. Well, listeners, if you've ever heard about 3 Kings Day or similar holiday share, share your experiences with us at A-Z, englishpodcast.com, leave a comment down below. Shoot us an e-mail at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com join our WhatsApp.00:11:40XochitlGroup or WeChat?00:11:41XochitlGroup and we'll see you guys next time.00:11:43발표자Bye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/topic-talk-3-kings-day/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok:@atozenglish1Instagram:@atozenglish22Twitter:@atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ADonate to the show: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/9472af5c-8580-45e1-b0dd-ff211db08a90/donationsRobin and Jack started a new You Tube channel called English Word Master. 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