A Christmas Festival

On Saturday morning Alejandro and I went back to the family house.  Leaving the apartment at 7:00 A.M. we were able travel the distance of 11 miles in just a half hour instead of the usual hour of snarled Mexico City weekday traffic.  We had breakfast at the house, and then we went to the Christmas Festival presented by the "secundaria" (junior high school) that Alejandro's nephew Ezra attends.

The festival was actually held at another school which has a large auditorium.  It was just a short distance away, but by that time, even on a Saturday morning, traffic was becoming heavy.

The program began with all the students on stage performing several musical numbers. 

The school's music program gives the students the choice to learn how to play guitar, violin, drums or keyboard.  Ezra is learning to play the keyboard.  I have to admit that listening to beginning violin students can be painful to the ears.  (My apologies to the young violinists who are doing their best.)

"Campanas de Belén" (Bells of Bethlehem) is a traditional Spanish Christmas carol.

"Los Peces en el Río" (The Fish in the River) is a very popular Christmas song from Spain.

It was performed by a smaller group (mercifully without violins).

Ezra told me that the show was going to include a play.  I thought that it might be a "pastorela", one of the traditional Mexican Christmas plays which tell of the shepherds' comical attempts to reach Bethlehem.  Instead, to my surprise, it was an adaptation of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

This "cumbia", a dance form which originated in Colombia and gained popularity in Mexico, really had nothing to do with Christmas.  It turned into a festive dance party with even members of the audience coming onstage to dance.