The sunset tonight was as far south as it gets, right over the house on the malecon where the Nativity Scene is laid out on the front lawn. This set-up comes complete with a flashing shooting star, the Virgin of Guadalupe, wreathed in flashing red lights overseeing the whole thing, diminutive figurines of Mary, Joseph, the Magi, angels, camels, sheep, cows, and a life-sized Baby Jesus who arrives in the manger on Christmas Eve. Starting tomorrow night, the sun will gradually move north, and by the time we leave will be setting over the El Buc Hotel, at least as seen from our third floor terrace. Between now and then, much will transpire, I'm sure.
This afternoon we set up the (electric) luminarios that go up the stairs from the first to the third floors. They look so pretty at night. Tomorrow I will go to Tecoman to the vivero to buy the Noche Buenas (poinsettas) to fill the house and put up the stairways. The house always looks so festive at Christmas. We put the lights up around the palapa as soon as we got here. Place looks like a nightclub!
Today was also the last day of school for kids here. The candle-lit Posada processions through town begin tomorrow night and will continue through Saturday. The children sing the traditional Posada songs, come to your door, knock and ask if there is room for Mary and Joseph. My first impulse is to say, "Sure. Come on in!" But instead, you say no and give them coins or candy, and they move on. You can hear these sweet, high voices as they approach, then a lot of giggling and urging by the parents with them, the giving of the treats, and then their little voices as they call out their "Gracias" and move on and begin singing. I love this tradition, one I first learned about when at school. The Spanish Club put on the Posada every year and I remember how beautiful it was then and is now.
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