Despite Santa Claus not being a major figure in the folkloric Christmas traditions of Costa Rica, a few children are still taking time to address letters to his magical residence and massive toy workshop in the North Pole. According to a recent news article by Fernanda Matarrita of online news daily CRHoy.com, the main post office in Costa Rica is used to getting Dear Santa letters, albeit the volume far from impressive.

When it comes to expressing their special requests for presents at Christmas time, children in Costa Rica are more likely to either write to “el Nino Dios” (baby Jesus) than to Santa, and their parents are more apt to be tasked with delivering these letters than the post office. This is an ideal situation for parents, since they can read the letters and get an idea about what their children want for Christmas. Another family tradition in this sense is to tell children that they should pray to baby Jesus along with their parents instead of writing, and that the prayers should include their gift requests.

Santa Claus is more often referred to as San Nicolas or Colacho, but he is not that closely associated with gift giving, which is in some ways remarkable since other holiday traditions from the United States, including Thanksgiving and Black Friday, are being adopted in Costa Rica. Children in many families know from an early age that their parents are the ones giving out Christmas presents, which they hope to get as they are enjoying tamales when the clock strikes midnight on December 24^th and baby Jesus is placed on the manger scene, which often competes for attention against the Christmas tree.

Still, the main post office in San Jose reported that eight letters to Santa were received during the first weekend of December this year. That’s actually a slight decrease from last year when nine letters were counted. Post office workers will attempt to deliver the letters as long as the address is known and accurate. These days, however, children are more likely to type out e-mails to Santa using an online platform that actually delivers responses.