Christmas Eve in Mexico is a festive time where families gather and celebrate. It is not unusual to see a car parked across the road on the end of one block with a second car blocking the other end, keeping traffic out of the family gathering. Usually a piñata hangs in the street out front of the party waiting to be demolished by the children. Music plays at full volume, people sit and chat, and it is a time for family and friends to be together. 
We walked the streets down to a restaurant called Ava for our pre Christmas dinner. There were very few visitors seated, one couple was
dancing to the rhythms of the one man band. We ordered our meal and sat enjoying the night.
About halfway through the meal a large local man came into the restaurant selling roses. The owner of Ava met him at the door and escorted him around the place giving a rose to each and every of the women present. Linda and Beth were excited to get the little gesture and thanked the owner as he smiled and walked away.
Dinner was very good; the music was about
as good as a one man band from Melaque could be. As we walked home fireworks and music filled the warm air, another Christmas Eve in Melaque was ending. 
On Christmas Eve, Art our next door neighbor, invited us to their traditional holiday breakfast and white elephant gift exchange. Prior to going to dinner we walked down town and tried to purchase gifts for the event. Every shop we approached was closed or rushing to close so that everyone could get home to the evening festivities. We bought a few bags to cover our gifts, bought some candy, and then walked home to find extra fillers for the gift bags.
At 9:30 am the next morning everyone gathered for the exchange. Art set out the rules, Mary wrote down the numbers and put them in a hat and
everyone drew the picking order for the action. As the gifts started to be unwrapped, Linda and I knew that this group’s idea of white elephant gifts was far different from Danbo’s annual gift exchange. The gifts being uncovered were definitely more than $10.00 and no one except the Bennett’s had wrapped re-gift items from around the house.
The exchange went for over an hour. Art received a small statue of a red devil with upside-down butterfly wings, and a rather large penis. This item was definitely the perfect gift for Art. Larry ended up with a Huichol Indian carved and painted rooster, which was the most sought after item. Linda and I received a very cool carved lizard, and a giraffe made by the Huichol. Beth ended the party with a carved fish of the same variety. So looking back at the exchange, we came away with some very wonderful gifts, and a little bit of white elephant guilt. Next year, if invited back, we will have stellar gifts for our part of the event!
Once the giving was over the table was set for a glorious breakfast of fruit, egg casserole and pastries. We ate and talked, looking forward to the annual Christmas day volleyball match.
With evening just around the corner we packed up our backpacks and walked over to La Paloma to Don and Caroline’s place for dinner. We brought with us everything we could to supplement the cooking of the Chulo, our prize catch from the days prior.
As we arrived we were introduced to Jackie and Grant Lake, two teachers who were from Vancouver Island BC. They were staying at La Ploma, a in one of the rooms
next door. We talked as we started the BBQ, prepared the fish and set the rest of the items on the table. Our menu tonight included: smoked salmon (from Larry), smoked salmon spread, shrimp ceviche, fish ceviche, rotisserie chicken, bread, cold slaw, rice, roasted onions, and of course, Chulo. 
The Chulo was marinated in Italian dressing and we placed it on the grill. When served the flavor was wonderful. The smoke from the Mexican charcoal, the delicate fish flavor and the dressing all mixed to provide a meal that was beyond description. We ate and talked into the night. I can actually say I would be hard pressed to find a more delicious meal anywhere.
I hated for the day to come to
an end, but everyone was very tired from all the festivities. We gathered our leftovers and walked back to #1 Reforma , went to bed and dreamed about how fortunate we were to be able to be here.
We walked the streets down to a restaurant called Ava for our pre Christmas dinner. There were very few visitors seated, one couple was
dancing to the rhythms of the one man band. We ordered our meal and sat enjoying the night.About halfway through the meal a large local man came into the restaurant selling roses. The owner of Ava met him at the door and escorted him around the place giving a rose to each and every of the women present. Linda and Beth were excited to get the little gesture and thanked the owner as he smiled and walked away.
Dinner was very good; the music was about
as good as a one man band from Melaque could be. As we walked home fireworks and music filled the warm air, another Christmas Eve in Melaque was ending. 
On Christmas Eve, Art our next door neighbor, invited us to their traditional holiday breakfast and white elephant gift exchange. Prior to going to dinner we walked down town and tried to purchase gifts for the event. Every shop we approached was closed or rushing to close so that everyone could get home to the evening festivities. We bought a few bags to cover our gifts, bought some candy, and then walked home to find extra fillers for the gift bags.
At 9:30 am the next morning everyone gathered for the exchange. Art set out the rules, Mary wrote down the numbers and put them in a hat and
everyone drew the picking order for the action. As the gifts started to be unwrapped, Linda and I knew that this group’s idea of white elephant gifts was far different from Danbo’s annual gift exchange. The gifts being uncovered were definitely more than $10.00 and no one except the Bennett’s had wrapped re-gift items from around the house.The exchange went for over an hour. Art received a small statue of a red devil with upside-down butterfly wings, and a rather large penis. This item was definitely the perfect gift for Art. Larry ended up with a Huichol Indian carved and painted rooster, which was the most sought after item. Linda and I received a very cool carved lizard, and a giraffe made by the Huichol. Beth ended the party with a carved fish of the same variety. So looking back at the exchange, we came away with some very wonderful gifts, and a little bit of white elephant guilt. Next year, if invited back, we will have stellar gifts for our part of the event!
Once the giving was over the table was set for a glorious breakfast of fruit, egg casserole and pastries. We ate and talked, looking forward to the annual Christmas day volleyball match.
With evening just around the corner we packed up our backpacks and walked over to La Paloma to Don and Caroline’s place for dinner. We brought with us everything we could to supplement the cooking of the Chulo, our prize catch from the days prior.
As we arrived we were introduced to Jackie and Grant Lake, two teachers who were from Vancouver Island BC. They were staying at La Ploma, a in one of the rooms
next door. We talked as we started the BBQ, prepared the fish and set the rest of the items on the table. Our menu tonight included: smoked salmon (from Larry), smoked salmon spread, shrimp ceviche, fish ceviche, rotisserie chicken, bread, cold slaw, rice, roasted onions, and of course, Chulo. 
The Chulo was marinated in Italian dressing and we placed it on the grill. When served the flavor was wonderful. The smoke from the Mexican charcoal, the delicate fish flavor and the dressing all mixed to provide a meal that was beyond description. We ate and talked into the night. I can actually say I would be hard pressed to find a more delicious meal anywhere.
I hated for the day to come to
an end, but everyone was very tired from all the festivities. We gathered our leftovers and walked back to #1 Reforma , went to bed and dreamed about how fortunate we were to be able to be here.
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