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Mexico's customs are a combination of ancient Indian practices and colonial customs imposed or introduced by Spanish conquerors and missionaries. This makes many celebrations in Mexico unique. In the USA, most Christmas celebrations could not be witnessed by the traveler, since they are private for the family or invited guests. But, in Mexico, that is only true of the celebrations on Christmas Day. Most of the festivities leading up to and including Christmas Eve are very public fiestas. Therefore, I felt that just telling a little about our trip to Mexico at Christmas time might be illuminating. We began our trip in Mexico City on December 20. The first thing that caught our attention was the beautiful nativity scene in the courtyard of our hotel. It was about 1/4 life size and was handmade
pottery. The manger was empty, which distressed me greatly. I learned later that the figure of the baby Jesus would be placed in the manger on Christmas Eve. Many nativity sets made in Mexico have baby and manger as
two separate pieces. Of those which don't, the baby and manger both are hidden until Christmas Eve. Often the three kings aren't put out until January 6, when they arrive with their gifts.
Alameda Park was transformed into a Fiesta. Booths of all kinds sold food, drink, and wonderful colorful Mexican candies. Mariachis strolled and bands played. Vendors knelt on the ground on sidewalks behind their wares which were spread on cloths before them--handmade toys, clothes, and all kinds of decorative items. Strolling vendors sold large helium-filled balloons with smaller balloons attached making them into animal shapes with huge heads. They were painted with eyes and markings into whimsical animals. I got an elephant. A woman sat to the side with small piles of tangerines in front of her. They were freshly picked and a more bright orange than any I have seen in any grocery store. They still had stems and
leaves. I bought a small pile for the equivalent of fifty cents, thinking between the four of us they would be gone in a day. But it turned out that I was the only one among us who liked
tangerines, so they lasted the whole trip.
At night the fiesta became even more crowded. A group of booths opened up, each with a different fantasy scene in the middle of which sat Santa Claus. These were for children to have their pictures taken. I'm glad I didn't have to make a choice between them--an impossible choice. All were doing a brisk business. On a side street, the most wonderful old (in the U.S, we would call them antique) amusement rides were also doing a brisk business. And people were everywhere--dancing, shopping, strolling, listening to music, and all were eating. Oh, yes, many were playing. Vendors were selling egg shells from which the egg had been removed (cascarones.) They had been stuffed with confetti or sand and the open end had been covered with tissue paper. These cost approximately fifty cents for three and were for breaking over your friend's head. We were covered with confetti and sand long before we got back to the hotel.
Click Here for page 2 of "Christmas in Mexico"
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