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| Sinterklaas chocolates in Belgium. |
Happy Sinterklaas Day from Belgium!
A couple of weeks ago, there was a Sinterklaas parade in Roeselare, and naturally, I assumed that Sinterklaas was the same bearded, red-suit-wearing man that gives gifts to good little boys and girls in America on December 25th. While there are some similarities between Sinterklaas and Santa Claus, they are not the same. As the parade rolled past us, I started to get curious about this Sinterklaas fellow and his funny looking 'elves.' I turned to Chris and said, "Honey, why are all of the elves in the parade black?" To which he replied, "Lana (silly girl), they are not black people, but they are painted black." That confused me even more! Why would they go through all of the trouble to paint themselves black, and what are they supposed to be anyway? They were like no elves I had ever seen before! I was so confused!
I promptly asked our new Belgian friends about Mr. Sinterklaas and his black 'elves.' After much laughter, I received a brief history lesson. . .
