Las Posadas what are they?
Las Posadas is a traditional religious holiday that originated with the Aztecs. For nine days, from December 16th through Christmas Eve, the Aztec celebrated the birth of their sun god. St. Ignatius Loyola wanted to convert the holiday to a Christian one and started nine days of prayer.
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Translated from Spanish, “Las Posadas” means ‘the inns’. A common tradition in Mexico -and
some Central American countriesit involves the re-enactment of Joseph and Mary’s troubles in
finding lodging on their trip to Bethlehem to report for the census.
In Puerto Vallarta as in most other Mexican towns, the word has a couple of meanings, one of which is the traditional drunken office party, celebrating the season with co-workers at a restaurant.
The second meaning of is more serious and religious, though it still ends in a party of sorts. Each house in the neighborhood picks a night to be the host for the celebration and each house has its own nativity scene. The host for the night becomes the “innkeeper”. The kids in the neighborhood lead a procession that visits houses, carrying candles and singing a traditional song requesting lodging. Two of the children carry small statues of Joseph and Mary.
 They usually visit three houses each night, with the third house being the home that had already been reserved for that evening. The first two houses will refuse lodging, but the third house will allow them to enter. Once inside, everyone kneels around the nativity scene and recites the traditional Catholic rosary prayer.
After the prayer is over, there is lots of food and a party for the children. The traditional food
consists of bunuelos (which are thin fried dough sprinkled with sugar), tamales, and ponche, a hot, spiced wine drink similar to mulled wine. (Adults often add tequila to their punch, while the children’s punch is non-alcoholic.)
The party involves a piñata filled with candy, peanuts, and oranges. The traditional shape of the piñata is a star. The star  represents the bright star that led the wise men to baby Jesus. The children sing songs as each child is blindfolded and allowed to swing a stick at the piñata to try to bust it open.
Every guest receives a small gift containing candy or cookies before they leave. The most popular night of the celebration is the very last one, on Christmas Eve. After the party, everyone attends midnight Mass. After Mass, people go home to eat dinner with their extended families and to place baby Jesus in the manger in the nativity scene.Email to a friend.
Feliz Navidad!...
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