If you wanted a Santa-Clausy Christmas this year, complete with tinsel, elves, Frosty the Snowman, and abundant gift-buying opportunities, Santa Claus, Indiana, might have been your destination of choice.
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.
Each year, in the days and weeks before Christmas, creches appear all over San Miguel. 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.
But it’s not until Christmas Eve that the Christ Child actually makes an appearance. And when he does, you can’t miss him. He’s in the streets, in the churches, and in the Jardin at the center of town.
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.
Christmas in Mexico
Kiss a neighbor’s Baby Jesus doll and you are invited to take a sweet from the Christ Child’s bed of candy.
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.
The Christ Child has arrived at last.
But Christmas isn’t over on Christmas in Mexico. On January 6, Epiphany, the Wise Men will arrive — and so will gifts for the children.
Can Christmas be Christmas without the kids? Read about it at “We’re Having a Merry Christmas Without the Kids This Year.” More travel stories at “Austin: A City That Wears Its Soul on Its Sleeve” and “A Dune on Lake Michigan.”
i am doing a report on nochebuena in mexico
can you help me?
Everything I know about Noche Buena I put into these posts. The one thing I’d like to emphasize is the wonderful community feeling tothe celebration — people coming out onto the streets to sing and pray with neighbors, sharing candy, inviting people in to see the nativity scenes with the beautiful, life-sized baby Jesus dolls. Also, the parades through the streets. It’s so different from the shopping experience that Christmas has become in the US.
I love this piece. Were you there this year at Christmas? How safe is San Miguel? I understand they have Spanish language schools there. My sister, Linda, wants to know if it would be safe to go there to study.
San Miguel is very safe. We were wandering all over the streets night and day. It’s got an old fashioned town center with narrow streets and cobblestones. The people are wonderful. I even saw taxi drivers pausing to let other taxi drivers go ahead of them. Also, lots of artists and retired folks from USA and elsewhere live there. And I’m sure you can find Spanish language schools. There’s at least one writing conference there too. Lots of great shops and restaurants. The day trip to Atotonilco I describe in another post is just one of the things to do.