Why go to Mexico for Christmas? 2017 was the first time since we had the kids (1988) that we didn’t spend the holidays with our family. Brian and Eleni had to work over Christmas and George only had a day and a half off. We had our family time the week before Thanksgiving when Eleni and Taylor, Brian and George could all get off a few days to be in Pensacola. We had a lovely time together cooking in the new kitchen.
So a few months ago, I called Lea to see what she was doing for the holidays and whether we might meet her and Max in Mexico. Luckily for us, they were planning a trip to Mexico City and then Oaxaca City over the Christmas week. Bill raised his eyebrows just a bit when I suggested this trip but in the end I usually get my way on vacations.
It turned out to be so much more than we expected. First of all we never felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Mexico gets such bad press in the US that we forget that millions of people are living their daily lives in these cities. We wandered all over both Mexico City and Oaxaca day and night and had no issues. We are woefully uneducated about the history, culture and language of our neighbor to the South. I was glad I found a book on Mexico’s history to read during the trip. They have had a long complicated and violent history to get to where they are now and the book highlighted each major empire and all the rulers, revolutions and major events. Mexico has such a rich culture – both modern and ancient. We enjoyed a variety of food and we participated in many Christmas festivities. I refreshed my Spanish before the trip and had some time to practice on this trip but I need a lot more work. We met some lovely people – Max’s friends in Mexico City, a newly married couple sitting next to us at a table in Oaxaca and Colorado Max and Annie at the theatre.
My favorite memories from this trip were climbing pyramids at Tectihoucan; drinks looking over the sparkling square in Mexico City; eating mole, drinking margaritas and singing at Los Pacos in Oaxaca; the Sunday market in Tlecoula; Christmas organ concert at the Basilica in Oaxaca and Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) dinner overlooking the Zocalo in Oaxaca.
I liked the way Mexico feels for Christmas – less commercial and more about family, food and faith. Nativities were displayed everywhere and people went to church to celebrate the birth of Christ. This trip was a winner and I look forward to going back to see everything we missed and to take the kids with us. New items on my bucket list are to be in Oaxaca again for Christmas and for Las Dias de Muerte in late October.
