Christmas Eve, central Mexico style

Wow, Christmas eve was a fabulous family affair. After a full day of classes, I returned to the house at 5pm for a nap, having been told we were having a fiesta at 6. I awoke to the cheerful sounds of greetings and quickly headed downstairs. The house was full of happy people, some I had met at the ranch days before. Everyone was so nice and sincerely happy to see each other, and the feeling was infectious. In moments, I felt like I was adopted into this extended family, and my heart swelled. Rea (my housemate, a student from Japan) and I sat together, and tried to keep up our spanish with others at the table. The most common question was "aren`t you cold?" Because I apparently surprise everyone by not wearing a coat everywhere- it is chilly here but nothing like Colorado, so I am quite comfortable here. Dinner was very traditional for Christmas in Mexico: Tamales (carne and mole, and also cheese with salsa verde) and for a beverage, Champurrado (a hot chocolate drink with corn meal)... I did not have champurrado, it will surprise nobody who knows me that I had tequila instead. Wonderful! I had had this meal at a Mexican Christmas party just before leaving Colorado, and was thrilled to have it again. After dinner, we all gathered in the living room to swing the baby..... This was a tradition I had never witnessed: a doll of the baby Jesus was put in a lace cloth and swung gently between two people while the household sang many verses of the misterio- at least half an hour of singing these verses. Meanwhile we were all to hold lit candles which occasionally were used to light sparklers! After a while the kids in the house began to throw confetti, at the baby and at all of us. It was in good fun, and we were all covered in confetti by the end. Immediately upon ending the celebration/ceremony, people began to leave, as it was time for them to head to other houses to do the same thing. Quite an event, and I feel lucky to have been a part of it!