Miguel and Rebecca Aguirre Just another weblog 
This last week, our family was invited to participate in a neighborhood "posada", or Christmas party. We put some money into the posada fund and showed up around 2:30 p.m. on Tueday afternoon for the party.
Posadas are traditional Mexican Christmas parties and are held during the month of December. The word "posada" means "lodging" or "shelter" and these parties are meant to commemorate Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for shelter.
We weren’t really sure what to expect as we arrived at the neighborhood posada, so it was interesting to see how it would be celebrated. There was a table set up out on the street in front of one of the houses and everyone just sort of gathered around.
First of all, there was a brightly-colored star shaped piñata for the children. The rope was stretched out over the street with the piñata hanging from the middle. One end was attached to a tree and the other end was held by a man perched precariously on top of a wall on the other side. The children were lined up and each given a chance to take a turn. Each child had a turn that lasted as long as it took for everyone to sing one verse of the traditional piñata song and then count uno! dos! tres! As soon as the piñata began to fall apart, one of the men off to the side began throwing candy out into the street. The children all scrambled for the candy and also for pieces of the piñata.
After a little while, another piñata was brought out, a soccer player this time and the children were lined up for their turns. Each child was able to take many turns since the soccer player held up pretty well! Early on, one foot fell off and I noticed that there was one little boy who played with that foot during the whole time we were there! No candy was given with the second piñata, though, much to Jojo’s disgust! 
They still fought over the remains of the piñata!
After the piñata was finished, it was time for tamales. The children were served first and then the adults. Many people had brought sodas to drink and we all stood around eating the tamales and chatting with the neighbors. Then a couple of men showed up with a boom box and began playing some music. Jkaile was the first to get out and dance! haha!
At this point, we needed to leave because Miguel and Micah had a rehearsal for the Christmas program at church. As we left, some of the ladies were organizing games for the children. We were given candy bags full of treats and toys for the kids since we were leaving before they had been handed out. About two hours later, we heard that the party was still going!
For more pictures of the neighborhood piñata, check out our photos page!
