Feliz Navidad 2013

Feliz Navidad 2013!

This time of year, the shops have a few extra things in their inventories.  Not at all like the US, where December is ALL about shopping.  But, the week before Christmas here, a few decorations appeared, with a little sparkle.  I spied a shop on Armenta & Lopez, not far from my apartment, with these great bags on display.  Thankfully, I needed a small bag for a gift, so could go into the shop and look. It's a plain brown bag, with handles.  The bow is slightly shredded to give it some excitement, and it's hot-glued (be still, you Martha Stewart wannabees!) onto the front.  The red fringe around the top is simple squares of paper folded into triangles and taped onto the bag. The woman made them all.

Earlier this week, Josephina and Manuel spent an afternoon decorating our courtyard.  Manuel did NOT want his picture taken!  He was adding more shiny stuff to the giant cactus, which is a perfect Christmas tree.  With lights, of course.

Los Danzantes, one of our favorite restaurants, always has a pretty display in the interior courtyard.  Right now, it's a pink tree, with pink lights, with papier mache figures, all standing in the small pool of water.  It's very elegant.

The Santo Domingo, one of the gorgeous churches the city is known for, hosted music all week.  The acoustics are awful, with all that stone and 30 foot ceilings, but it's always impressive just to walk inside. The "Tuna", an ancient tradition of music, performed with this group of kids.  They swayed in perfect chaos to the lively music!  They posed, perfectly still and somber, after the performance for  the grandparents and parents to take pictures.  The men of the Tuna were far more interesting, in their fabulous capes and big, beautiful voices!  Of course, they're behind the kids in this photo...

Noche de Rabanos.  Even Garrison Keiller knows about it, and in his December 23 Writer's Almanac made note of the event.  By 2pm, the line had snaked three blocks long, waiting to get onto the raised walks circling the zocalo to view the work.  I had a spanish class at 5, which meant we didn't even get in line!  But, I walked around outside the rails, and caught these few photos of the amazing dried cornshuck and carved radish creations.  The masks on these tiny figures were incredible in their detail.

...more incredible cornshuck work.

This eagle was posed, sparring with another bird of equal detail.  I hope this artist won an award!
 

A car, made from the skins of radishes!  The wheels were entire radishes, bent and held together with sticks.  It was about 3 feet tall,

One of the two Tule tree sculptures I saw, complete with the pretty little church beside it in the village of Santa Maria del Tule.  You can't see the tiny figures in this photo, but the tree is circled with tiny cornshuck people, holding hands.  Just like in the famous postcard.

Christmas Eve night is the special time here, and we were invited to join Tere and Dan, and Tere's extended family for a gift exchange and meal.  Dan cooked a turkey, and made a pan of dressing.  The dressing was a big curiosity for everyone but Stuart and me!  Try describing dressing, and see if it sounds appealing:  dried bread, baked with onions and herbs, and chicken stock.  Really???  The traditional dried cod dish was delicious, as always.  Tere's daughter made a pecan cake, from her grandmother's recipe, and it was much admired by everyone. Here are a few photos from last night's fun:

Dan and Tere, carving the turkey at their house before we left for the dinner party...

Some of Tere's family...

Tere's sister-in-law, Rosa, our hostess for dinner.

The delicious dinner was served, buffet style, at midnight.  We were all ready to eat by then!  Some of us were asked to bring specific things; I contributed a huge vegetable salad.  Carolina, the woman to the right, made pasta with pesto, with basil from her garden. We had ham, turkey, the traditional dried cod dish, and salads.  I'm glad I wore a skirt with elastic in the waist.

One of the traditions at Christmas is to break egg shells filled with confetti on the heads of your loved ones.  Rudolpho was a favorite target of the kids, as he protected his pecan cake from the bits of paper!  I tried to break one of the eggs on the head of one of the kids, and I may have given him a concussion.  The egg shells are hard as glass!

Tere and Dan dropped us off at 2am, after driving through the unusually quiet streets.  Today, some businesses are closed, while people take a rare day off of work.  From my apartment I hear a few buses, not many; the tamale dude pedaled past this morning, and I easily caught him on the empty street for our breakfast tamale.  We'll take a long walk, to burn some of the calories we consumed last night!  Then, have a pot-luck comida with friends this afternoon.
Feliz Navidad!