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 | Yodania Sanchez, 22, decorates a Christmas tree at her home in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, Cuba Monday, Dec. 21, 1998, while the family dog looks on. Cubans are recapturing the Christmas traditions of their parents and grandparents this year as they prepare to celebrate Dec. 25. The Cuban government granted a Christmas holiday last year as a one-time favor to Pope John Paul II and decided last month to make it permanent this year for the first time in nearly three decades. click to open  |  | Pedestrians look through a Christmas store window Sunday, Dec. 20, 1998 in Old Havana, Cuba. For the most part, Christmas items such as these can be purchased only with U.S. dollars. As Cubans begin recapturing a tradition all but erased by official declaration in 1969, church leaders are reminding their parishoners not to forget the holiday's religious origins. click to open |
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