Christmas here seems to keep on going! Not only does the celebration start earlier here than in the US with the Posadas (described in my last post), but continues with this holiday that falls on the 12th day after Christmas, when the Magi
arrived bearing gifts for baby Jesus. In Mexico children receive gifts
on this day, brought by the three kings. Some children receive gifts from both
Santa Claus and the Kings, but Santa is seen as an imported custom, and
the traditional day for Mexican children to receive gifts is on Three Kings Day, or January 6.
The three kings, who bring gifts to the children.
On the night of January 5th, the figures of the Wise Men are placed in the nativity scene. Traditionally children would leave out their shoes with a bit of hay in
them to feed the animals. When the children would wake up in the morning their gifts
appeared in place of the hay. Nowadays, like Santa Claus, the Kings tend
to place their gifts under the Christmas tree. That is, if they have a Christmas tree. My guess is this is for wealthier families. We haven't seen Christmas trees at our friend's homes here in the village.
Many nativity scenes are seen throughout the village, both in people's homes and in public. I appreciated this one because the baby Jesus' are dark skinned.
On Kings Day it is customary to eat Rosca de Reyes,
a sweet bread shaped like a wreath, with candied fruit on top, and a
figurine of a baby Jesus baked inside. The person who finds the figurine
is expected to host a party on Día de la Candelaria, celebrated on February 2nd, when tamales are served.
The sweet bread, Rosca de Reyes
So, as you can imagine, it was another celebratory festival for our village, and particularly for the neighborhood next to ours. Los Reyes is the barrrio to host the big party. About a 3 minute walk from where we live, starting in the morning, a festival was being set up in the street with a large stage for a band. And boy, do they know how to throw a party here! We know from past experience that neighbors go door to door in avance asking all the people who live in the barrio to donate money to host the party. People might not have much here (in terms of material things) but they seem to take celebrating the present moment very seriously! We think a lot about how much we have to learn from this culture in regard to this. From our experience, people seem to really enjoy the life they're living, and don't worry too much about what's to come in the future.
I had no idea that it would be such a big party! Lea and Brian have been here for the holiday the last few winters, but I have had to return to school by then so missed it. We saw the initial set up because our close friend's daughter had her communion in the morning at the local church. It was right in the middle of everything! We were designated as the photographers, which was a fun role to play for the family. While at the communion, we enjoyed watching a woman peel potatoes by hand for french fries to prepare for the crowds. You'd never see that at home!
Both before and after the communion we shared food together at our close friend's home where they hosted a small band for Abby (the girl who was confirmed) and had traditional mole with rice. The origin of the famous mole; the thick,
rich, chocolate-tinged sauce is still disputed, and generally involves
this legend. 16th
Century nuns,
upon learning that the Archbishop was coming for a visit, went into a
panic because they had nothing to serve him. The nuns started praying
desperately and an angel came to inspire them. They began chopping
and grinding and roasting, mixing different types of chiles together
with spices, day-old bread, nuts, a little chocolate and
approximately 20 other ingredients. This concoction boiled for hours and
was reduced to the thick, sweet, rich and fragrant mole sauce we know
today. To serve in the mole, they killed the only meat they had, an
old turkey, and the strange sauce was poured over it. The archbishop
was more than happy with his banquet and the nuns saved face. Little
did they know they were creating the Mexican National dish for
holidays and feasts. Today, millions of people worldwide
have at least heard of mole.
Mole Poblano: Pollo con Arroz
People are very generous here about hosting and preparing lots of food in their homes. In fact, mole and rice is served all day long by many people in the village on Jan. 6. People come and go from house to house (I assume just the ones they were invited to) and seem to eat and drink all day long. If it gives you an idea, we were invited to four different homes for mole, and we're just visitors! Imagine how many invitations the village people get, who have been living here their whole lives and know just about everyone.
Make note here that virtually none of the village people speak English, or very few, which is an ongoing challenge for all of us. Brian is practically fluent, and Lea translates for me! The language has certainly been the hardest thing for me about being here, but poco a poco, mas y mas, I am understanding more and speaking more. We all find that we're completely exhausted at night because it is such a huge effort to understand and speak a language that's not our own! It has made us much more sympathetic to the experience of people coming to the USA from other countries and the challenge they are faced with in terms of learning English.
By the third meal (or the second home we made it to) we were stuffed and couldn't eat another thing, but wanted to at least say hello to them. The family insisted that we take home a container of mole. After having mole for leftovers, we decided we were mole'ed out for a while!
We took a rest at home and then went back to enjoy the festivities at night, which included the huge, festive band, food, games for the children, and a definite highlight, the fireworks! Experiencing the "torito" (Spanish word meaning little bull) was a once in a lifetime opportunity! It is something you see a lot in Mexico during the holiday season. A man wears a contraption on his back that is full of fireworks. As the man runs around haphazardly, the fireworks come off the pack in a swirling, circular motion as candy flies out in all directions. If you're closeby, it can be dangerous in that the sparks are flying all over the place, but so fun! I took a video of the event in my somewhat panicked frenzy that you can see below. How exciting it was! Please see other photos from the day in addition to short videos. Oh, and the band and the blasts of the fireworks roared into the night, long after we were in bed. Again, do they know how to have a party here!
The party in the street, early in the day.
Children at the school Kimberly teaches at holding the traditional sweet bread in honor of the holiday.
A view of the local church.
Kimberly stirring mole. Do you believe the size of the pot?
Abby with her family after her communion.
The blasts (or bombas!) that go all through the day and night on holidays. It's certainly not a quiet place!
Kimberly with Azalea Flores, who owns and runs the local hospedaje (inn) where Kimberly's mom stayed and friends will stay during their visit here.
The band that played for Abby after her communion.
A video of the band!
Lea enjoyed mole and rice with her Mexican friends.
One of the bands that played during the day.
Kimberly made a friend above, and a video of the band playing!
A view of the street at night.
A view of the church at night.
What's a street festival without cotton candy?
Lea is happy to get french fries!
At our friend's house. Side note: A whole lot of soda is drank here.
Convenient to arrive at the festival by bike, huh?
A game at the festival.
A man selling traditional pottery in the street.
The man carrying the torito (or small bull) before it was lit.
And a photo of a torito lit.
And a video of the torito in action!NoteBrian saying to Lea, "Come on Lea, Go!"
A video of the band that played at night!
And a video of the crowds at night in front of the band.
A video of some of the fireworks at night.
And a video of the "bombas" or loud blasts, heard late into the night!
I'll make note that I was recently talking to a close
friend of mine who currently lives in Madison and grew up in Mexico
City. She has followed the blog and said that we are extremely
fortunate to experience many of these Mexican traditions, in that they
are only happening now in the smaller villages and are no longer a part
of modern, city life. I feel like we chose the perfect place! How lucky
we are...
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