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Don't miss this season's festivities, which stretch from the sacred to the strange
Contemplating my first Christmas in Mexico eleven years ago, I remember being met with discouragement every step of the way. It appeared that, for the foreign visitor, this colorful, festive nation was practically out of bounds in December.
"Christmas is a family affair-everyone shuts themselves up in their parents' house with aunts and uncles," Mexicans told me. "Besides, no one does anything on the 25th."
"You'll be bored," others added. Best go to the beach, was the popular consensus. No one thought to mention that this was when prices go through the roof and last-minute reservations are impossible. In keeping with biblical tradition, there would be no room at any of the seaside inns, for sure.
And talking of places to stay, if anyone mentioned to me the series of parties that are held from Dec. 16 to 24, called "posadas" (posada meaning "inn" or "lodging"), then it was only in the most unaccommodating way, to insist these were only for the initiated.
Mysteriously, considering "no one did anything," traffic was forecast to be at its harrowing worst in the capital because of last-minute gift shopping and people fleeing the city.
Why all this commotion if Christmas is such a private, family holiday?
There is a snowflake-sized grain of truth in the above: Foreigners tend to hold their own posadas (clumsily, even starting them on the wrong date), and on Dec. 25 we tend to make the rounds on deserted streets, paying cordial visits to other outsiders who haven't quite got the picture.
But we are putting the cart before the horse. Our foreign focus on Christmas Day is to approach this month's mythology and sacrament from the wrong end.
Festivities in Mexico begin early in December, and saturate almost every day so that by our precious 25th everyone is exhausted. But the country's various celebrations, decorations, costumes, and cuisine are a rich amalgam incorporating remnants of indigenous practice, Spanish tradition, Colonial inventions, regional talent and craftsmanship, as well as Germanic and U.S. elements.
Moreover, Christmas-related rituals for many continue until Candlemas on Feb. 2.
So read on to make the most of what's to be seen:
In the days leading...