Before I give all the details of how you can simply run out of water in Mexico, I thought I would share a little bit about Christmas in Mexico. I know I am a little late, but we were enjoying our holiday out of Mexico/in the U.S.

Before we left for the states we went to our ward Christmas party called Posada. At the time I didnt know what posada meant, but that is what all the Christmas parties were being called so I just went with it. It started at 8:30 pm (I am still not used to Mexican time). First, one pinata for the little kids and then one pinata for the bigger kids (and sometimes grown ups). Then, lots of Christmas music in english and spanish. Then came the tamales, followed up by more tamales, and then, even more tamales. Then, of course Santa came. He danced and sang with all the kids and passed out ginormous bags of candy to everyone including grown ups. The rest of the night (it was almost 10 pm when Santa left) was full of music--Mexicans love loud music--and dancing.

Chloe, Logan and I had lots of fun. Tyler was still recovering from his appendectomy, so he stayed home and since the Doctor had given him strict "No spicy food" orders I didn't bring home any tasty left over tamales for him. And they sure were yummy! There were lots to choose from too. Some were filled with a spicy shredded beef, some had chicken and corn, some had just beans --Chloe's favorite-- and my favorite had a chile and some kind of mexican cheese in it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Mmmm, I love food.

Chloe was totally enamored with Santa Clause and tried to get as close to him as she could. Logan was all over him in the beginning, but then he kind of stood back and just watched. Then Logan comes up to me and wants to know why Santa is speaking in spanish when he always knew english before and why there is black hair underneath the white hair? Very observant huh! But, how do I explain a bad wig to a 5 year old who is used to an all natural Santa Claus with a genuine white beard and his own white hair?!?

Anyway, here comes the indepth info:

There are three main themes for Christmas in Mexico or "Navidad" including the Posada, the Piñata, and the Pastorela that climax on December 24th which is called “Nochebuena” or the “Good Night”. First I will address the “Posada” which means “lodging”. It relates the story of Joseph leading a donkey bearing the very pregnant Mary from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem where Joseph searched for a place where Mary could give birth to the Baby Jesus. Beginning on December 16th and continuing up to and including December 24th the posadas are held each night in turn by different people of the same neighborhood or family. This is a nine day period called a “novena” and some say that it commemorates the nine months that Mary was pregnant and others say that it commemorates the journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem, which supposedly took nine days. In the time of Jesus many societies followed the custom of gathering together for nine days following a burial and in the New Testament book “The Acts of the Apostles” (Acts 1:14), we find the apostles, along with some of the close disciples and Mary the mother of Jesus gathered in the upper room and praying for nine consecutive days which culminated in the Pentecost or decent of the Holy Spirit upon them. In any case, nine seems to be a significant number in ancient histories.

How the posadas got started in Mexico is an interesting story. In the year 1587 a priest named Fray Diego de Soria, who was the rector of a monastery called San Augustín de Alcoman (just to the northeast Mexico City), asked permission to celebrate a mass called the “Misa de Aguinaldos” (Mass of Gifts) each day from December 16th to December 24th. In this mass there would be passages related to the story of the nativity and in order to draw the people to the mass the priests would include entertainment in the form of fireworks and songs and little gifts in the form of sweets. Now it just so happens that the people were already accustomed to celebrating during this period of winter solstice which they called “Panquetzaliztli” in their native tongue. It was a time when they celebrated their native war god whom they called “Huitzilopochtli”. The feast of Huitzilpochtli lasted twenty days from the 6th of December until the 26th and it also had an element of pilgrimage in that people would travel long distances to come join the celebration. They would also receive gifts of sweetened seedcakes of amaranth or in Spanish “amaranto” and these sweets are still around today and are called “dulce de alegria” or “candy of joy”. Also note that even to the present day, the little bags of sweets given to children at Navidad are called “aguinaldo” and the same word is used for the end of the year bonus pay that is traditionally given to workers just before Navidad (and by the way, this bonus pay is mandatory--required by the state).

The earliest posadas were held in the open courtyards of the monasteries and began with a recitation of the rosary accompanied by songs and stories based upon the biblical account of the birth of Christ. Later on, the posadas were carried over by the people to their own houses and neighborhoods and evolved into what they are today. The posada entails two groups, one representing the innkeepers and the other representing the “peregrinos” or “pilgrims” meaning Joseph and Mary. All of the people in the pilgrim group carry candles and usually four of them carry a litter instead, upon which rest statues of Joseph and Mary and a donkey. Sometimes this is actually substituted by people dressed as Joseph and Mary and Mary is seated on a real donkey! There is generally someone walking in front of the group with a paper lantern lit by a candle. As is the custom they go to three houses and at each they knock on the door and sing their request for lodging. At the first two houses the group who answers the door listens to their request and sings a refusal. At the third house they sing their request to enter and the participants in the house give their acceptance in song and all of the people including the people from the other two houses are let in. Then they recite a rosary and sing a litany to the Virgin Mary and after this the fun begins. One of the things that they do is that everyone lights “sparklers” which in the United States people traditionally light on the 4th of July. The ones that they use in Mexico for the posadas, however, are much smaller. They are called either “Luces de Belén” (Lights of Bethlehem) or “Luces de Bengala” (Lights of India). --By the way, this may be how hardcore Catholics do it, I am not sure. We did not experience this whole shebang. We just got the posada as described above.

Anyway, back to the Mexican traditions...let's talk about the Piñata. The origin of the piñata can be traced back to China and it was part of the Chinese Spring Festival or what we call "Chinese New Year”. The custom came to Italy by means of Marco Polo or perhaps some other adventurous soul and in Italy it took on a religious aspect and was called a "pignatta". It was used during the Lenten period and when the custom of breaking piñatas during Lent eventually arrived in Spain the Spanish introduced a feast every first Sunday of Lent called "The Dance of the Piñata." Breaking the piñata at the beginning of Lent symbolized the desire to end the evil in one's life, to convert the heart to return to God and receive an eternal reward. In the early sixteenth century, the piñata tradition was unknown in the New World but in Mexico, the Mayan Indians had a tradition of trying to break a clay pot that was filled with sweets and balanced on a pole. This practice was part of the traditional December “Panquetzaliztli” celebrations in honor of their war god “Huitzilopochtli”. The Spanish missionary priests were always looking for ways to convert the native traditions to Christian traditions and so they gave a religious sense to the game of breaking the pot and so they converted the “pot” into the form of the Spanish/Italian “piñata” and moved it from Lent to Advent. It quickly became a popular compliment to the festivities of the Posadas.

The traditional piñata of Navidad is made from a clay pot called an “olla piñatera” or “cantero” that is covered with bright colored paper and represents the Devil who tempts us with the bright colors. The classic piñata of Navidad is round with seven peaks or spikes, representing the seven cardinal sins: Sloth, Lust, Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Pride. Hitting the piñata while blindfolded represents faith that allows us to believe without seeing. The stick with which to beat the piñata represents the force of the grace of God with which we combat evil. With God's help, we destroy the evil, and then we receive the fruits of God’s reward which are the sweets that are contained in the piñata. The shouts of the people who guide the blindfolded person with the stick represent the faithful of the church who collectively help us combat the Devil and who also share in God’s reward when the Devil is overcome.

This is the song everyone sings while someone hits the pinata:

“Dale, dale, dale,
No pierdas el tino
Porque si lo pierdes
Pierdes el camino.
Dale, dale, dale
Dale y no le dio
Quítenle la venda
¡Porque sigo yo!
¡Se Acabó!
¡Sigo yo!”

In English:

"Hit it, hit it, hit it!
Don't lose your aim
Because if you lose your aim
You will lose the path.
Hit it, hit it, hit it!
He hit it, and it didn't give
Take away his blindfold
Because it's now my turn!
It’s over!I'm next!"

Now we come to the Pastorela or “Shepherd’s Play”. A pastorela is basically a play relating the story of the Nativity and sometimes start with the shepherds being tempted or tormented by the Devil. They began in twelfth century Europe and appeared in Mexico in the middle of the sixteenth century. They were used initially for the purpose of the evangelization of the native people but they eventually became part of the tradition of Navidad especially among school children. Many pastorelas are performed in schools or in community cultural centers. Almost every town of any size in Mexico has a “Casa de la Cultura” and putting on a pastorela performance is one of their traditions at Navidad. Pastorelas are homey, involve many children, and are at the same time quite predictable and very often amusing. The cast of characters has parts for everyone including simple shepherds, various Devils, Angels, Archangels, oriental Kings, and the Holy Family.

They put on a pastorela at Chloe's school. She was supposed to be a shepherd, but we skipped out of town early. Good thing we got to act out the nativity several times at home before Christmas.

And by the way, I did not come up with this by myself, I found all this info on another blog. I love copy and paste!!!