La Posada

Christmas in Ixtlan is a little different than what we’re used to at home. To be honest, it feels good to be away from the craziness and stress of the holidays at home. I do miss being with family, and I miss the peace and silence of a snowy night at our house, but other than that I’m grateful to be here, where we can set our own rhythm, and where the commercialism and shopping frenzy from home are inexistent.

Here, Christmas is celebrated mostly on December 24th, at night. This is called La Posada, and we took part in it last night. Each village here has its own baby Jesus (which is a baby-size doll), and during La Posada what happens is that baby Jesus is brought to different villagers’ houses. At each house, he is placed in the nativity scene which is prepared in advance, and the people whose house it is are supposed to take care of him, as well as take care of the many visitors that come to their house to see him. The family whose house we went to last night provided food, drink and deserts for us and other people who stopped by. They also had a piñata for the kids, and in general they were very hospitable and opened their house up to everyone. This is expected from a family who requestes to have baby Jesus in their home during La Posada. After spending time with one family, baby Jesus is brought to another house, and then another, until at the end of the night, around 10pm, a procession of people collects him and marches (with great fanfare) to church, where the birth is finally celebrated in a religious ceremony.
We only participated in the early part of all this, the march to church being too late for Sena and Aiyana. Sena also came down with a cold last night…

Today, everyone sleeps in late, tired after last night’s festivities. Aiyana and I went for a little walk, and everything was deserted. It was very uncharacteristic, even the market was closed. Everyone is at home taking it easy with their families. I found the empty streets depressing, so we quickly returned home. Our neighbors and owners of the apartment we live in, are here, and they’re very friemdly. Music is playing, their kids are playful and come over constantly, the mother sends us food every once in a while, and in general, our place feels nice and homey and quite lively.

Sena slept quite a bit today. She has a fever, but if she follows her usual pattern, she should be feeling a lot better by tomorrow.

Happy Holidays and Peace to everybody!