Dia de Reyes...

On Tuesday evening Ron and I were able to learn a little more about the customs, traditions and culture that are a part of our newest son-in-law's life. We were invited to a party at Leslie and Gerson's house to celebrate a Mexican tradition associated with the Christmas season. The holiday is known as Three Kings Day in honor of the story of the wise men who presented gifts to the Christ Child. From what G says, it was actually the biggest celebration day for his family when he was a child. As I understand, gift giving and Christmas trees were never part of their celebration. Most of their activities were focused on gathering together with friends and family to eat and spend time together. Leslie and G had managed to find a Mexican marcado that had just opened downtown. They bought a traditional Lottery (Bingo) game and taught us all how to play. It is pretty much the same as the English version of Bingo except that the board is covered with pictures labeled with spanish words and as the words are called, you place coins on the pictures instead of tokens. The winner is determined by whoever covers his or her board first and the prize is all of the coins used by the other players. They also bought some traditional Mexican candy (a chewy coconut bar), Mexican hot chocolate (richer, thicker, and spicier than what we are used to) and a King Cake. Tradition holds that the person lucky enough to get the piece of cake with the tiny plastic baby hidden inside is the host of the next party. Lucky for all of us, G got the piece with the baby inside. We also got to experience some yummy Mexican food, delicious fruit, spicy salsa, and great company. Unfortunately, it was too dark outside to whack a pinata!