Cookies and Las Posadas

This was an exciting week for celebrations here. I've got to say, this whole month-long observance of Christmas is pretty great. Instead of people feeling stressed about finishing their shopping in time and getting cards out, we're doing awesome stuff every few days to celebrate. I actually haven't heard any talk of presents at all (possibly because the kids don't get any? I'm still a little unclear on that). Anyway, we just started doing Las Posadas. For those with good memories, this is the Christmas parade that I witnessed during my time in language school last year. Now that I've been here for a while, I understand the celebration a little better. Las Posadas means "the lodgings" and is a reenactment of when Joseph and Mary were riding through Bethlehem and needed a place to have the baby. It's done nightly for the 9 days before Christmas to represent the nine months Mary was pregnant with Jesus. Each night a group of folks (usually with lots and lots of kids) walk through the streets with statues of Mary and Joseph. The kids play music, usually with drums or turtle shells, and everyone sings. They traditionally carry candles in paper lanterns that are specifically made for Las Posadas. Here's a picture of the lanterns I saw last year.

After the parade, the procession moves to someone's house and stands outside the door. They then sing "Pedir Posada" which means "Ask for lodging". It's a back-and-forth song that goes on between "Mary and Joseph" outside and the "Stable owner" inside. Here's the translated dialog:

Joseph: In the name of heaven
I request you grant us shelter
Given that she cannot walk
She my beloved wife

Stable owner: This is not an inn
Please continue ahead
I can not open
You may be a robber

Joseph: Do not be inhumane
Grant us charity
Since the King of heavens
Will prize you for that

Stable owner: You can go away already
And not bother me
Because if I get upset
I will beat you up

Joseph: We come exhausted
From Nazareth
I am a carpenter
Named Joseph

Stable owner: I don't care about your name
Let me go to sleep
Because, like I said,
We shall not open

Joseph: She asks you shelter
Dear innkeeper
For just one night
She, the queen of heaven

Stable owner: So, if it's a queen
Who asks for it,
How is it that at night
She travels so alone?

Joseph: My wife is Mary
She's the Heavenly Queen
And she'll be mother
Of the divine world

Stable owner: Are you Joseph?
Is your wife Mary?
Come in, pilgrims!
I did not know you!

Joseph: May God pay, sir,
Your charity
And may heaven swamp you
With happiness

Stable owner: Joyful be the house
That this day hosts
The pure virgin
The beautiful Mary

Then everybody sings: Come in, holy pilgrims!
Receive this corner
Because even though this place is poor,
I offer it to you from my heart

Let's sing with joy
Everyone at the thought
That Jesus, Joseph and Mary
Came today to honor us!

After that, the people are let in, they bring the statues into the home where a nativity scene is set up. They put the statues in and then everyone prays together. After that, the host gives them a small meal to show their hospitality.

This week was the start of the Posadas at NPH, and the clinic drew the first slot! These poor kids were walking outside at the time, and in true Tia Rosa fashion, she grabbed them and forced them to be the stars. Gustavo wasn't very thrilled at the idea, but I bribed him into submission.

The song exchange

They're granted entry

The statues they carried in

Waiting for the prayer

Joseph and Mary hanging out in our "manger"

Then she had a baby! OMG! (literally) Oh, and we had to switch out Mary roles because baby Jesus didn't like his chosen birth mom.

It was a really great thing to do with the kids. Tia Rosa gave a really beautiful speech about how Jesus is the King of kings, but he wasn't born in palace, he was born in poverty. He lived his life as a poor man, and then rose up later to greatness. I don't know how the kids felt about it, but I was certainly inspired. Tia Rosa was able to get the laboratory company we use to donate tamales to all the kids, so they had a nice snack afterwards :)

And speaking of snacks, I also was able to make good on a promise that I had made to my buddy Julian and his sister Aileen a while back. We had been talking about Christmas traditions from the US, and I told them how much I loved baking Christmas cookies. They had never done it before, so I told them that we could do it together this month. They've been asking me about it non-stop for the last three weeks and I was feeling a bit nervous because I didn't have the money to buy ingredients for them. I kept pushing them off hoping that somehow things would work out, and lucky for us, they did! My friend Steve generously sent us over a donation and I was able to get everything we needed! Sadly, after days of trying to line up our schedules, Aileen couldn't come. I didn't want to cancel things last minute, but naturally I didn't have problems finding replacement bakers :)

They LOVED the hand mixer. We probably mixed the dough for ten minutes because they were having such a good time with it

They kept wanting to eat the dough and I didn't want them to get sick. I told them they couldn't eat spoonfuls of it like they had been trying to do, but licking a little off their fingers was okay. End result: shockingly dirty hands.

We had a lot of fun doing the cookies. Sad fact: did you know that they don't eat chocolate chip cookies here?! They didn't even know what chocolate chips were! They were very happy with the final product!

I still have a bunch of ingredients so I'm hoping to grab Aileen and do a batch with her and her friends. I'm so glad I was able to deliver on this, huge thanks to Steve!