Mexico Christmas (Susan Ault)

[This memoir is by a student in Susan Ault’s English Language Learner course for Hopkins schools.]

In my native city of Poncitlan, Mexico, the biggest celebration of the year is the Virgin of the Rosary.  This celebration starts on November 23rd and lasts for eight days.

At five o-clock in the morning the people are inside the church and the mariachi band plays the Happy Birthday song.  When they sing the song, everybody walks in the street with the mariachi music and drinks punch or soft drinks...Everybody dances for more than two hours.

During the evenings there is a carnival in the town plaza, with music, dancing, delicious food, punch, rides and a lot of excitement.  The children are very excited because they like all the rides.  The adults enjoy walking around the plaza visiting with family and friends.  Young, single men look for girlfriends during this time.  When a man sees a girl that he likes and she likes him, he puts confetti on her head, they walk around together and he will buy flowers for her.  People watch the dancers who are dressed in beautiful costumes.  They are dancing for the Virgin Rosario.
 
This is a wonderful time of the year, eight days of celebration and fun.