POSADA & PASTORELA

The Mexican Holiday season is under way ...

POSADA

As I ran along the beach last Saturday afternoon, I saw 4 posada celebrations. We were invited and attended a posada which included:

- A progressive scavenger hunt type relay game for the children which they loved

- The singing of a traditional song telling of the Holy Family requests for shelter for the night but being turned away - they are told that while there is no room in the posada (inn) but they are welcome to take refuge in the stable ... the song ends with a joyful welcoming. Sheets of paper were handed out and the guests split into 2 groups to sing the parts.

- A piñata with 7 points representing the 7 deadly sins was eagerly smashed by the children (this started an interesting conversation with our boys about the sins which are not part of Jewish liturgy)

- And lots of great food, of course!

PASTORELA

About Pastorelas - "(Shepherds Plays) are staged throughout the holiday season in Mexico by both amateur and professional groups. The light, humor-filled Pastorelas tell of the shepherds' adoration of the Christ Child. First they are visited in the fields by an angel who announces the holy birth. As the shepherds attempt to follow the great star leading them to Bethlehem they are plagued by a series of evils and misadventures provoked by the Devil. But in the proverbial all's-well-that-ends-well finale, good triumphs over evil and the shepherd's reach their intended destination."

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Our Pastorela was last night at the kids' school. Wow. It was 2 1/2 hours of organized, wonderful choas:

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- Youngest Son was a Devil in the pre-school presentation of the pastorela. Since all in Spanish, I could not understand the words but the costumes and acting were so, so cute! Youngest Son and I made his costume which included very scary face make-up and crazy fiery hair - he looked amazing.

- Grades 1 - 6 each did a couple songs and dances. Oldest Son was truly rocking to Jingle Bell Rock with his enthusiastic dance moves, wrist bells and Santa cap

- Some older students sang and played music several times along with being the MC

- Several girl dance groups did ballet and hip hop

- There were tamales, cake and some kind of chicken soup type dish

- Lots of lights and decorations ...