Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is the focus of the Mexican Christmas celebration. We were lucky enough to be invited to a Christmas Eve dinner at Laura's mom house with some of her sisters and their families. She warned me that we would be eating very late and consequently be up late. I said "no problem, we'll stay as long as the kids hold out."

First, we went to the cathedral in Ajijic to see some nativity scenes that they set up there. Some with kids, others with statues and others with real animals, 5 or 6 in all. Laura said that it's been much better in other years.

Then we went to get set up for dinner, about 9pm. We talked and snacked til about 10:30pm and waited for one of the sisters to arrive. She owns a furniture store and keeps her store open late for last minute shoppers. Apparently there are a lot of those. At about 11pm, we sat down to eat. They had ordered in a turkey and sides from somewhere in Guadalajara and the turkey was a pre-cooked one. Very popular here. But it was still frozen inside so we nuked it and ate. I couldn't help but wonder if the sides were traditional or not. Laura said not. There was spaghetti noodles with ham and a white sauce. A cold, refried bean with some kind of fruit mixed in. Mashed potatoes, but no gravy and an apple salad with nuts. Interesting, though not bad. And fruitcake for dessert. None of the Mexicans ate that, so I wondered if it had been bought for our benefit. Yuk.

Then they exchanged gifts. All gifts are given on Christmas Eve, except of course Santa's and some they give later from the 3 wise men. It was fun to see the family exchange and hug and talk. They seemed very close. 6 sisters in the family, but only 4 there that night. 4 of the 6 married gringos, though 2 are divorced now. One of the sisters' husband was there. David, from New Hampshire. He told us a lot about his kids and watch ours a lot. I think he missed his, 4 all grown.

We were supposed to sing hymns, break a pinata and read the Christmas Story from the scriptures, but by now it was almost 1am and let me tell you, I was doing worse than the kids. They were having a blast. Even Charlie. I even tried to get him to cry, so I'd have an excuse to call it a night. Didn't work. But I think Laura could see that I was exhausted and let me know it was ok to go anytime. So we went. Fireworks were being let off outside and we realized we had not been prepared for a late night Mexican Christmas Eve.