Holiday Season 2012 in La Manzanilla

   The holidays are here!! Even if you are living in the tropics the Christmas Spirit and Holiday Cheer  is starting to spark in all of us, we somehow feel compelled to be close to family, close to tradition and be giving towards the ones we love the most.

   This feeling in our country is translated towards our most essential and beloved family member, our mother. We take it to the streets to recreate a long journey in her honor, a centuries old pilgrimage, we bring her offerings of many different kinds, things like personal sacrifices, prayer, fireworks,  food, flowers and dance. The Virgin of Guadalupe is our most important divine symbol, it embodies our mother Earth, our ancestral power and knowledge repressed and murdered by our European conquistadores and modern westernization, she is our saviour, our only future and hope, our only known past, our common origin. In La Manzanilla like in most Mexican towns the procession begins 9 days before her birthday 12/12/12.

Lety, Mildret y Abril despues de la peregrinacion. 

    Most residents will be aware of the activities with fireworks which invite and encourage everyone to join the contingent, the objective is to honor her with what they call Mananitas a la Virgen. Each day people from town dress up in traditional Mexican clothes, made out of manta and hand sewed skirts, blouses ass well as huaraches on their feet. The afternoon peregrinacion begins around 7 p.m. alternating each day from the south and the north end of town. The reach the church and after the mass all the "indit@s" share the goodies in their baskets, the Mom's have a little secret competition on who packs the best treat. This is by far the children's highlight of the whole thing!

Indita and her basket. 

Getting ready for Holiday decoration!

   Most houses have a traditional X-mas decoration but they will also set up a Nacimiento with a baby Jesus at the center and of course a Virgen de Guadalupe image in the front of the house surrounded by colorful Christmas lights and plastic flowers. 

Valentina in one of her Holiday outfits! <3 

Special Thanks to: 

All the inditos and inditas of 2012! 

:)