Sinterklaas

Last night Sinterklaas came to our home in Curacao and left some presents for my daughter!

The Feast of Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas, is an annual event which has been uniquely Dutch and Flemish for centuries. Sinterklaas' Feast Day, December 6th, is observed in most Roman Catholic countries primarily as a feast for small children. But it is only in the Low Countries - especially in the Netherlands - that the eve of his feast day (December 6th) is celebrated nationwide by young and old, christian and non-christian, and without any religious overtones. Of course, Curacao, being a Dutch colony partakes in this festive tradition!

Sinterklaas lives in Spain. Exactly why he does remains a mystery, but that is what all the old songs and nursery rhymes say. Whatever the case may be, in Spain he spends most of the year recording the behavior of all children in a big red book, while his helper Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) stocks up on presents for next December 5th. In the first weeks of November, Sinterklaas gets on his white horse, swings a huge sack full of gifts over his shoulder, and the three of them board a steamship headed for the Netherlands. Around mid-November they arrive in Curacao and the festivities begin!

Children leave a carrot and hay in their shoes for Sinterklaas' tired horse and recieve a gift in return!

The photos I posted are of Sinterklaas' visit to the International School of Curacao. The children welcome Sinterklaas with songs, drawings and poems!

I took my daughter to the school so that she could see Sinterklaas for the very first time! She was very excited, but she's still too young to understand what was going on. It was fun to be able to share this tradition with my daughter in the school that I attended for so many years!

Thanks to www.thehollandring.com for information on the history of Sinterklaas.