so this is christmas?

contrary to popular belief, christmas does actually exist in countries without snow. i don't know what i thought, but i guess i didn't expect many of the traditions to be the same. or maybe that christmas was bypassed in favour of a holiday where we celebrated palm trees.

instead, christmas is here in full force. these people sure know how to celebrate - tacky, religious but also with enough spirit to bring out the kid in me.

i started the season at school by pulling out all my holiday books. as if i don't love reading enough to them already, now i can't stop! titles such as "how santa really works" and "how santa got his job" are captivating me more then the kiddies! in case you were wondering, santa is actually a skinny dude wearing a fat suit, and he takes off the suit to get down the chimney.

christmas here in san pedro, is a season. it begins with the massive san pedro parade the first weekend in december. every dance troupe, every school, every single child in the city seems to walk in the parade. we gathered our hot chocolate (spiked with bailey's, of course) and set up along the calzada to soak up the spirit. rollerblading clubs, choreographed routines and multiple santas marched past us, and the ending was timed perfectly with a HUGE firework display.

after this parade, my kids became out of control, and in many ways, the whole month has been a write off. particularly in this community, these kids are very affluent and i struggle watching their sense of entitlement when they write their letters to santa. when i was 8, i was asking for toys, and these kids are asking for cell phones and ipods. one really cool thing, though, is that they all believe. when one child brought up the possibility that they had heard a rumor about christmas, and the kids refused to believe it. santa comes. no questions asked.

on the same note, the kids were shocked when they heard that not everyone celebrates christmas. they asked me, "mizz, do you not go to church because you don't understand spanish?" i have tried my very best to expose them to other realities without being judgemental or critical of what they understand as their reality. one of my friends here is jewish, so i had her come in and talk to the kids to talk about hanukkah. i was really proud my little ones when they asked thoughtful questions such as:
"what does it feel like to be jewish?"
"why did they all fight?"
i don't know if they will remember my efforts ten years from now. but if even one kid remembers this, then all this work is not pointless.

a traditional christmas celebration in mexico is called a posada. these parties traditionally happen in the 8 days leading up to christmas and represent the difficult journey that mary and joseph took to find an inn. in spanish, posada simply means shelter, but it has evolved into a huge festive celebration commemorating the journey. half of the people at the party stand on one side of a door, and the other half stand on the other side. a traditional call and response song is sung (the song with NO tune, as we like to call it), followed by the kids hitting a pinata in the shape of the star, again representing the star that mary and joseph followed to bethlehem. we had a class posada at one of my student's houses (errr, mansion) AND we had a full staff posada at the huesteca campus last wednesday after work. it was interesting watching the children interact with each other outside of school, and to observe the lack of rules/structure they are given by their parents. but it was nice not to be in charge. our full-staff posada was also an eye-opening experience, but for a different reason. ALL of the staff were there: the security guards, the teachers, the cleaners, the custodians and the office workers. when you fill up a gym filled with all of us, international teachers are a SIGNIFICANT minority. i don't notice it on a typical day because i am always surrounded by the teachers. we were all served delicious tamales, we had karaoke (which the mexicans took with a storm) and they had a HUGE draw for gifts. every person's name was put in the draw for everything from microwaves to heaters to cleaning supplies. very cool. i didn't win, but i was SO content watching everyone else walking away smiling.

as i walk around san pedro, both on the way to school and in the evening, there are almost more decorations here then at home. or maybe they are just more prominent: blow up nativity scenes, huge santa scenes, flashing lights in multiple colours. talk about over stimulation!

presents started pouring in over a week ago, one of my kids has already left for a cruise and i am counting down the minutes until my last class this week. christmas is still christmas, even without snow. i am being won over by different traditions: visiting christmas markets with tacky decorations, eating hot churros and learning to re-gift the piles of christmas chocolates i am given by my students.

christmas is all around.