Category: Mexico

Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Bite the baby; throw the party

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three-kingsThe pair of skinny Santas on stilts (I know; I don’t comprehend their significance either.) who roamed the plaza in front of the Cathedral around Christmas have been replaced by itinerant trios of kings soliciting tips for family photos. This troupe was the only one around bearing gifts for Baby Jesus accompanied by the beasts (well, sort of) originally transporting them to the manger in Bethlehem on January 6.

Epiphany was always a holy day of obligation when I was growing up, another command day at church which fell within several weeks of a multitude of visits to church. But we weren’t rewarded with cake.

In Mexico, Saint Nicholas traditionally does not arrive bearing gifts for children on Jesus’ birthday. Children have to wait until the day Jesus received his presents – gold, frankincense and myrrh – delivered in tribute to him by the three kings. So, on January 6 in Mexico, Mass is followed by presents and a party with cake – rosca de reyes.

Shannon Costello's rosca de reyes
Shannon Costello’s rosca de reyes

The staff at the Library of the University of Texas at San Antonio has translated, along with helpful baking tips, a traditional kings’ cake recipe from Panes de Levadura by Josefina Velazquez de Leon, part of the collection of Mexican cookbooks, La Cocina Historica.

Not everyone in Oaxaca appears to make these from scratch. Boxes of the rings of cake have been flying off shelves in bakeries all over town.

Hidden inside each is a little figure representing Baby Jesus. If the piece you receive contains the nino, your family has to host the next fiesta specifically for Jesus on the calendar, Candelaria on February 2, or prepare the homemade tamales for the party (Whoa! I prefer the no-strings-attached prize in Cracker Jacks).

Candelaria is when all the Baby Jesuses housed by the faithful in their homes receive new clothes. Then, dressed in appropriate finery, all the little statues are carried to church to be blessed.

Hmmm. What should Jesus wear? Is Oaxaca ready to follow the fashion trends being set in San Cristobal de las Casas? Happy Kings’ Day.

And, if the kings have any gifts in mind for me, of the ancient trio, I’d prefer the gold.

Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Snapshots of Street Art

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Stucco walls, mainly outside the historic center of Oaxaca, often become canvases for artists. These represent a few we have encountered during recent meanderings.

Biannual round-up of what postcards you read most

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cathedral6Every six months it’s good for me to check back to see what type of post you have been reading during the past 12 months. As usual, you are all over the map, leaving me free to continue selecting topics arbitrarily.

It makes sense that blog-readers love libraries; the most read post expressed concerns affecting funding of the San Antonio Public Library. The mystery surrounding the murder of Helen Madarasz in Brackenridge Park rose to second in popularity, and there are those who pine to hear the San Antonio Song. A few new posts pushed aside several long-time favorites, and, for some reason, you dug deep in the archives to resurrect a couple that had not been read for quite a while.

The number in parentheses represents the rankings from six months ago:

  1. The danger of playing hardball with our Library: Bookworms tend to vote, 2014
  2. The Madarasz Murder Mystery: Might Helen Haunt Brackenridge Park?, 2012 (7)
  3. Please put this song on Tony’s pony and make it ride away, 2010 (5)
  4. The Tragic Rule of Maximilian and Carlota in Mexico, 2014 (10)
  5. Remembering everyday people: Our rural heritage merits attention, 2014
  6. Picturing the City’s Past Just Got Easier, 2014
  7. Seeing San Fernando Cathedral in a new light…, 2014
  8. Postcard from San Miguel de Allende: Sun rises again at La Aurora, 2014 (9)
  9. “Nuit of the Living Dead” (8), 2010
  10. How would you feel about the Alamo with a crewcut?, 2011
  11. That Crabby Old Colonel Cribby Condemned the River to Years of Lowlife, 2013
  12. Postcards from San Miguel de Allende: Redirecting Graffiti Artists, Part Four, 2014

Thanks for dropping by every once in a while and for giving me permission to keep rambling on about whatever I’m currently pondering.

And best wishes throughout the coming year.