Dia de Los Reyes

Here in Mexico, people not only celebrate Christmas, but also, Dia de Los Reyes - January 6th. This is a day celebrating the three wisemen and it's actually almost a bigger deal here than Christmas is. The timing of Dia de Los Reyes was perfect because I arrived back in Mexico Tuesday night and the school director gave us the day off on Wednesday. We celebrated on Thursday with a big party after school that lasted until 10:00 p.m. All four houses came so naturally, there were people everywhere!

We spent the day together eating, playing soccer, eating, and playing more soccer. Later at night, we all gathered to eat "rosca," which is a kind of bread baked specifically for Dia de Los Reyes. Rosca is shaped like a circle and has a baby doll baked into it, representing baby Jesus. The person who finds the doll is supposed to buy tamales for everyone the next day. There was a doll in almost every piece of rosca that we cut and instead of buying tamales, those who had a doll had to get up and dance. Soon the party turned into a dance party, even for those who didn't find baby Jesus in their piece of bread. The dancing was stopped so we could break pinatas - thus began the confetti war. The war then escalated to a new level ... flour. The house parents told all of the high school kids to get together for a picture; once the picture had been taken, the rest of us staff snuck up behind the kids to throw flour on them. This turned into a full out flour fight. Messy, but fun.

It was cool to be here for Dia de Los Reyes and learn more about this day and how it's celebrated. But what I enjoy most of all is the time I have with the kids and with the other staff. To put it plain and simple, life here is fun! It never ceases to amaze me how little stress people seem to have here. It's all about living in the present, enjoying each moment to its fullest, and sharing it with others.