A Gringo Easter in Mexico City

On Easter Sunday, Alejandro came to the apartment in the morning and drove me to his parents' house.  I had brought with me plastic eggs, a bag of jelly beans, a bag of chocolate eggs, and a small package of Peeps.  We were going to give Alejandro's three year old nephew, Ezra, the experience of a "gringo-style" Easter egg hunt.  The whole family was meeting at a nearby restaurant for a late breakfast.  Before we left, we filled all the eggs with candy and hid them around the patio.  I also had an Easter card (which said that the Easter Bunny had been there), and I put it in a visible spot.

We had a very good, and very filling breakfast at a little neighborhood spot... nothing fancy, but with good. simple homemade food.  The place is very popular and we had to wait a while for a table.  The family ordered a half portion of lamb "barbacoa" (that's where we get our word barbeque), and we shared that.  In additional we each ordered a breakfast.  I had "huevos toluqueños", scrambled eggs mixed with sausage.  The breakfasts included fresh-squeezed orange juice, a fruit plate, home-made bread, and Mexican-style coffee.  We even had dessert... I had flan with "rompope" (Mexican eggnog).  Needless to say, we were quite stuffed after that huge meal, and I had no desire to eat until that evening when I had a light supper.

Ezra and his parents made it back to the house before we did.  He had found the Easter card.  He knows how to write his name, and recognized "Ezra" written on the envelope.  I read the card to him (translating it to Spanish), and told him that he had to find the eggs that the Easter Bunny had left.  He squealed with delight each time he found one.  After collecting all of the eggs, he then redistributed them so that each of us had an egg.  What a sweet kid!

I then brought out something else that I had brought Ezra... an Easter Bunny that dances and sings and wiggles his ears.  (It sings "La Macarena" but with different lyrics... "Oh, jelly bean-a.)  Ezra loved it!  I was beginning to think that I should have brought some extra batteries because he played it again and again and again.

It was a great day, and nice way to bring my trip to a close.  Today I am doing laundry and packing my suitcases.  This evening Alejandro and I will go out for dinner.

My flight leaves Mexico City tomorrow at nine in the morning, and I will be arrive in Cleveland around eight in the evening.

It has been another wonderful trip.  I didn't do quite as much sightseeing as I usually do, but I did have the opportunity to see some very interesting aspects of the celebration of Holy Week in Mexico.