Jaltemba Sol Page 2

This gentle bear of a man is known for his love of family and discussing politics. Big Al, as he is affectionately called in the local community, is more than a hard working businessman, he is a loyal friend. A fixture in the beachside small town, Los Ayalas, for twelve years, Allan�s journey to Mexican paradise has had some interesting twists.

Born 60 years ago in the poorest country in Central America, Honduras, Allan began working the banana plantations from an early age. Since Honduras is plagued with severe hurricanes, when the 1960s violent hurricane devastated some

60% of Honduras' agricultural production, forcing many of the plantations to be abandoned, the already subsistent economy collapsed . The cocky 17 year old Allan took his loss of employment as an opportunity for adventure. �I thought to go to the United States for a year- learn English, a new trade, see another part of the world,� chuckles Allan. �I landed in New Jersey and went to school to learn about computers.� He completed his training, took a job and stayed in the north east for seven years. �I got tired of the cold, snow and freezing rain,� he remembers.

ccepting a job with a large southern California company as a maintenance mechanic, Allan crossed the continent again. Allan became a US citizen, got married and had three children. Two adult children and seven grandchildren still live in the United States, but frequently visit at the Los Ayalas home. The youngest daughter, Alexa Marie, 25, lives with her parents when not attending university in Tepic. Since Allan�s wife of 28 years, Maria Olga, was born in Compestella, Mexico, the family had vacationed in the Riviera Nayarit are

a for years. When the US company was downsizing in the mid 1990�s, Allan decided to make another career and continental move to Los Ayalas, Nayarit. �After dealing with the crime and the US problems with my first two teenagers, I wanted to live somewhere safe that was good for raising children. We moved to small town Los Ayalas when Alexa was 12. We love living on the coast!� explained Allan.

The family started their Bungalows Alexa business in 1996 with two small casitas. The complex now offers 24 suites with kitchenettes, sleeping area and private bath. In addition, the facility has a swimming pool, outdoor shower, on-site grocery store, air conditioning, satellite TV with 200 channels, and wi-fi internet. Marie said, �We were the only bungalow in the area in �96. Now there are 50 of them!� What sets Bungalows Alexa apart is that it caters to families: it provides comfortable, clean, safe vacationing where kids and pets are welcome. English is spoken by the entire family, so assisting vacationing foreigners make arrangements for activities or giving directions is a snap.

All of the family is involved in the daily management and operation of the bungalows. Visitors are helped by the owners. �The best thing about being self-employed is working with my family and being my own boss,� said Allan. A couple of unique perks for the guests at Bungalows Alexa are the complimentary fiesta and Spanish lessons. Each week Maria Olga cooks authentic Mexican food for the guests, and Allan provides weekly conversational Spa

nish lessons to help guests interact while on vacation.

The talented and vivacious Alexa, who is studying graphic design, created the family logo that is used on their website, www. bungalowsalexa.com, and business cards. This family of inn keepers truly care about their guests: �We treat our customers as friends to our home,� Allan sums up. As their many repeat customers proclaim, a stay at Bungalows Alexa is experiencing the best Mexican hospitality on the Riviera Nayarit!

It's that time of year again - Christmas in Mexico.

The worldwide diversity of Christmas in its various cultural forms is an interesting study. The essence of the holiday - a celebration of the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ - is the same throughout Christendom. The holiday has a real power to inspire art, literature and folk customs, and express itself in various manners in diverse cultures.

Real celebrations come from the people, and are not imposed by governments to promote an agenda. In Mexico, Christmas is a true folk celebration. Mexican Christmas customs are an eclectic mixture of the old and the new, including elements from Europe, elements developed in Mexico, and, in recent years, elements borrowed from the U.S.A.

One prominent aspect of the Mexican Christmas season is the widespread use of the nacimiento - the cr�che or nativity scene. It is often more elaborate than those used in the United States. Its ceramic figurines includes interesting elements such as the nopal cactus , hermits and ducks. (I've even seen ducks with halos!) My Mexican wife has fond memories of the nacimiento which belonged to her late grandmother.

In northern Mexico, the traditional gift-giving occasion is the night of December 24th-25th. Traditionally, in southern Mexico, the principal gift-giving date is January 6th, Epiphany, or more commonly Day of the Magi Kings, commemorating the presentation of the gifts by the wise men to the Baby Jesus.

The pi�ata, suspended in mid-air and whacked with a stick until it breaks, is probably the most famous Mexican Christmas custom. Besides Christmastime, the pi�ata is used throughout the year at children's birthday parties,

In the U.S., the most famous pi�ata is in the form of a donkey, but nowadays a pi�ata might be in any form. For example, you might see a Bart Simpson pi�ata or a Spiderman pi�ata.

The traditional pi�ata used at Christmastime is a ball with spikes. In Spanish colonial times a pi�ata in the form of a big ball (representing Satan) with 7 spikes (representing the 7 capital sins) was used by the friars as a teaching device. Thus, breaking the pi�ata represented defeating Satan.

Another Christmas custom is the posada, which superficially bears some resemblance to the Christmas caroling custom practiced in English-speaking countries. However, the singing in the posada is a ritualized musical drama. The people outside sing the part of Mary and Joseph, the people inside sing the part of the innkeeper, and finally those outside are invited inside for the party.

The Mexican pastorela is a genre of Christmas play. Its roots go back to the mystery and morality plays of medieval Spain. The pastorela focuses on the shepherds, pastor being the Spanish word for shepherd. In the pastorela, the shepherds hear from the angel about the Christ Child, and they set out for Bethlehem to see Him. Along the way they encounter the Devil, who puts various temptations in their path to prevent their arrival at the manger. Each shepherd is tempted by a particular sin. But they resist the temptations and at the end of the play, they reach the Christ Child.

In more recent years, Gringo customs such as Santa Claus and Christmas trees have been adopted in Mexico. Actually they have been assimilated quite well into the culture.

During the season, stores do a brisk business in Christmas trees. I recall one December in Mexico City, seeing a gigantic artificial Christmas tree in the Zocalo (the main Mexico City plaza.)

Santa Claus is well-known in Mexico now, and many small children eagerly await his annual visit.

One curious result of the adoption of Christmas customs from the U.S. is seeing snow-related decorations in regions of Mexico where it hardly ever snows.

Just as in the U.S.A. (and maybe everywhere it's celebrated) Christmas is very commercialized in Mexico. But maybe that's inevitable, because the main reason it's commercialized is the holiday is important to people.

As long as you remember the real reason for Christmas, and as long as you don't go into debt buying presents, that can be a very good thing. It's certainly good for the commercial economy. In fact, a lot of stores do a big share of their business during the season.

In conclusion, allow me to wish all the readers of Banderas News a hearty Merry Christmas, or as they say in Mexico - �FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Allan Wall is an American citizen who has been teaching English in Mexico since 1991, and writing articles about various aspects of Mexico and Mexican society for the past decade. Some of these articles are about Mexico's political scene, history and culture, tourism, and Mexican emigration as viewed from south of the border, which you can read on his website at AllanWall.net.

Click HERE for more articles by Allan Wall.

With the holiday season well underway, Los Pasados home parties are flourishing throughout Mexico. One game that is often played at Posada parties is Pi�ata. A pi�ata is a decorated clay or papier-m�ch� jar filled with sweets and hung from the ceiling or tree branch. The traditional Christmas pi�ata is decorated something like a ball with seven peaks around it. The peaks or spikes represent the 'seven deadly sins' (lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, anger, envy, pride.) Today, pi�ata's reflect the influence of popular culture: they are available in animal, bird, holiday figure or TV character shapes. To play the game, children are blindfolded, spun in a circle, taking turns to hit the pi�ata with a stick until it splits open and the sweets pour out. Then the children rush to pick up as many sweets as they can! Although Mexican children get their main presents at Epiphany (January 6th), the pi�ata treats keep them happy until the gift day.

Ancient Tradition: Historical records have reported that pi�atas may have originated among the Aztecs, Mayans, and other native peoples of Mexico, who made clay pots in the shape of their gods. The pots were meant to be broken forcefully with poles and sticks, so the contents spilled to signify abundance, favors from the gods, etc.

It was the custom for the birthday celebration of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, native priests hung a clay pot on a pole in the temple. The pot was adorned with colorful feathers and filled with small treasures like bead ornaments, colorful or painted stones, berries, nuts, etc. When the pot was broken with a stick, the little treasures spilled on the feet of the god as an offering. The Mayans also played a game where the central player�s eyes were covered with a cloth while he tried to hit the pot that was suspended by a string.

Other records indicate that the Spanish conquistadors brought the pi�ata practice to Mexico, where it became very popular perhaps due to the similar Mayan tradition of breaking clay pots. But the Spaniards soon changed the meaning of the pi�ata in the Mexican new world.

It is believed that at the beginning of the 16th century the Spanish mis

sionaries that went to Mexico took the Indian pi�ata practice and gave it a religious spin. These evangelists had the daunting goal of changing the Indian population�s belief in many gods ideology to adherence to the single Catholic God. One strategy the friars came up with was to use the pi�ata to explain the complicated dogmas of sin and the way in which Satan tempts us. The missionaries wanted to teach Indians about how we must be strong to beat the devil and to reap the benefits of heaven. The pi�ata was a perfect metaphor.

Religious spin: The priests designed a huge ceramic pot covered with colored paper in the shape of a star, with each point representing one of the seven deadly sins. It was something that would come down from and then rise up to the sky (hence the shape of the star) it would bother people...touch them...tempt them. The stick symbolizes the only way, righteousness, faith, to overcome temptation.

In order to overcome sin, you have to hit it hard, which will break the evil. But it's not easy� Sin blinds us like a blindfold, requiring the help of our family and friends and others who have to guide us in order to break the chain of evil. The lesson says that when someone is well guided, the pi�ata is broken. Then, from heaven, we are showered with gifts...fruit, candy, toys, immense happiness that fills us with joy. Evil has been destroyed, God is with us. The missionaries accomplished their goal for Mexico remains predominately religious 500 years later. Even as the country has become more secular in its outlook, Mexicans continue to enjoy the fun and exciting tradition of pi�ata for any special occasion as breaking the pi�ata will always be a thrill for all children.

No matter whether the pi�ata is used during the holiday season or in the middle of summer, no matter what the shape, pi�atas will always be a joyful reminder of Mexican traditions.