{"id":16762,"date":"2014-01-01T00:01:45","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T08:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=16762"},"modified":"2014-01-01T00:01:45","modified_gmt":"2014-01-01T08:01:45","slug":"christmas-eve-in-mexico-its-all-about-the-baby-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/christmas-eve-in-mexico-its-all-about-the-baby-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in Mexico — It’s All About the Baby Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hand<\/a>
Christmas in Mexico: I bought this hand-painted clay folk art creche depicting Joseph, Mary and Jesus a few days before Christmas in San Miguel. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you wanted a Santa-Clausy Christmas this year, complete with tinsel, elves, Frosty the Snowman, and abundant gift-buying opportunities, Santa Claus, Indiana<\/a>, might have been your destination of choice.<\/p>\n

But if it was the Baby Jesus you were looking for, Mexico’s old colonial town of San Miguel de Allende was the place to be.<\/p>\n

\"tower<\/a>
Bell tower and steeple of the\u00a0Parroquia de San Miguel Archangel in old town San Miguel. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each year, in the days and weeks before Christmas, creches appear all over San Miguel<\/a>. You see the Star of Bethlehem, the angels, Joseph and the Virgin Mary. You see posadas — with parades of children following the Holy Family from house to house in search of a place to spend the night.<\/p>\n

But it’s not until\u00a0 Christmas Eve that the Christ Child actually makes an appearance. And when he does, you can’t miss him. He’s\u00a0 in the streets, in the churches, and in the Jardin at the center of town.<\/p>\n

\"posada<\/a>
I made a shaky but musical video of this posada procession<\/a>. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Two<\/a>
Baby Jesus dolls are brought out into the street on beds of candy for neighborhood celebrations on Christmas Eve. At midnight, each Christ Child will find its place in a creche in a family home. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
It’s Christmas and the Christ Child has arrived in the creche in the Jardin at the center of San Miguel — and so have the live animals and the flocks of people. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Local folks pour out of their homes bearing their beautiful Christ Child dolls to be blessed at the local church and prayed over in makeshift creches set up by neighbors on the city’s centuries-old cobblestone streets. Check out my murky but touching video of neighbors singing a lullaby to the Baby Jesus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Christmas in Mexico<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Kiss a neighbor’s Baby Jesus doll and you are invited to take a sweet from the Christ Child’s bed of candy.<\/p>\n

And then at midnight on Christmas Eve all over town, the beautiful, life-sized Jesus dolls are placed in creches in churches, parks and homes.<\/p>\n

The Christ Child has arrived at last.<\/p>\n

But Christmas isn’t over on Christmas in Mexico. On January 6, Epiphany<\/a>, the Wise Men will arrive — and so will gifts for the children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Can Christmas be Christmas without the kids? Read about it at “We’re Having a Merry Christmas Without the Kids This Year.”<\/a><\/em> More travel stories at “Austin: A City That Wears Its Soul on Its Sleeve”<\/a>\u00a0 and “A Dune on Lake Michigan.”<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A twenty-first-century Baby Jesus:<\/strong> For sale — along with a figure of San Miguel, center, and a figure of Jesus on the cross, lower right — on Christmas Eve at the Tuesday Tianguis Market in San Miguel. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
An eigthteenth-century Baby Jesus:<\/strong> A ceiling mural in the Sanctuary at Atotonilco<\/a>, not far from San Miguel, depicts the Virgin and Child. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
Full disclosure: I did spot one Santa wannabe in San Miguel. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"posada<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If it’s the Baby Jesus you’re looking for on Christmas Eve, the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, is the place to be. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1139,20,35,887,34,888,22,889,890,55,31,32,1072,891,33,872],"class_list":["post-16762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-rocky-spiritual-journey","tag-baby-jesus","tag-christianitiy","tag-christmas","tag-churches","tag-dont-miss","tag-folk-art","tag-jesus","tag-mexico","tag-mexico-photos","tag-family-stories","tag-photo-ops","tag-photography","tag-religion-and-sprituality","tag-san-miguel","tag-travel","tag-travel-adventures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16762\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}