Day of the Kings

Yesterday was the Day of the Kings, the day when Mexican children traditionally receive presents from the Three Magi.  Nowadays, many children here receive their gifts from Santa Claus on Christmas.  If they are lucky, they get presents on both Christmas and January 6th.  I gave out gifts to the family on Christmas, but I also bought a couple of items at the toy expo at the World Trade to give to Alejandro's nephew Ezra on the Day of the Kings.

Alejandro and I went back to the family house, and I gave Ezra his presents.  He enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles, so I bought him this puzzle of a Van Gogh painting.  Ever since he went to the immersive Van Gogh experience several years ago, the Dutch painter has been a favorite of his.

Ezra also enjoys Lego kits, so I bought him a sports car kit.  He immediately started putting it together.

That evening, Alejandro, his sister Sandra, and I walked a few blocks to a bakery to buy the traditional pastry known as "la Rosca de los Reyes" (The Ring of the Kings).  Sandra wanted one filled with pastry cream.  They were out of medium "roscas", so we ended up buying a large one.

Most Mexican households serve a "rosca" on Kings' Day.  Can you imagine how many millions of them are baked each year in just Mexico City, not to mention the entire country?

We took the large "rosca" home and opened the box.  It was decorated with figs and strips of "ate", a typical Mexican sweet made from fruit and sugar. 

This photo angle with Alejandro's dad seated at the end of the table, makes the "rosca" look even bigger.  He is wearing his Christmas elf hat.

Alejandro took a similar photo, and sent it to relatives with the caption, "Look at the enormous rosca that the elf brought us."

A little figure of the Baby Jesus is baked into the "rosca".  Whoever gets the figure in his/her slice is supposed to make tamales on February 2nd for the feast day of "Candelaria" (Candlemas).  These days bakeries put several figures into the pastry.  The first to get the Baby Jesus was Ezra.  But then when we took second helpings, Alejandro and I also got figures in our slices.