Plaza de la Constitucion Christmas Eve 2012
About everyone I know has left Querétaro for the holidays, off to Montreal, Belfast, London, LA, Wichita and Mexico City. My buddy Cesar and I are stuck here, but really it is not so bad – in fact it is an adventure. The historic city center was alive with thousands of people tonight. Here people get out for the holidays and there’s no lawsuits preventing nativity scenes in public places – it is to be expected.
A Robust Nativity Display in Jardin Zenea
After this brief presentation pictured above, hundreds lined up to kiss the baby Christ, likely a tradition that has been around for centuries. In this plaza dozens of food vendors were setup in a very long row of tents offering about every variety of delicacies that one could imagine. One booth served only shots of Tequila!
Church of Guadalupe at Dusk
Young men could be seen in the towers of each of the three churches in the historic district frantically ringing the bells each hour up to midnight. Later Cesar and I returned for some tamales and a drink at Hanks. Although much of the crowd had returned home, the central city was still full of life. This was truly a remarkable night – something never seen in the US, but likely common throughout Mexico and certainly in Spain and Italy.
Christmas is not so bright for the hundreds that literally live in the streets of Querétaro
Among all the festivities are so many poor, and they seem to be all but ignored by the locals. How they survive is beyond imagination. I must have passed out a 1,000 pesos tonight in increments of 50 to all I encountered in need. It seemed hopeless as I could have passed out 10,000 and tomorrow life will be no better for most of them. The contrasts here in Mexico remain stark.
