Back to Jamaica

No, I am not talking about the Caribbean island, but rather the Mexico City market... El Mercado Jamaica.  As you may remember, during my recent trip I visited the Jamaica Market prior to the Day of the Dead.  With more than 1000 flower stands, it is always a fantastic, colorful place.  Before the Day of the Dead it is awash in marigolds as well as decorations for the season.  

Later during my stay, Alejandro and I drove by the market, and I noticed stands along the street that were selling enormous piñatas.  During my last week in Mexico City, I decided to return to see what the market looked like in preparation for Christmas.

From my apartment I walked about twenty-five minutes to the Chilpancingo subway station.  From there it was a straight shot on the metro to the Jamaica station which is located right outside the market.

My first goal was to see those giant piñatas that I had earlier seen from the car.

Many of these piñatas are bigger than I am!

These are the traditional piñatas which feature seven cones representing the seven deadly sins.  The piñatas were introduced by monks as a teaching tool.  If you fight against sin, you are rewarded.  Smash that piñata and you get goodies.  (I didn't actually count the cones on the piñatas, but I think a lot of them had more than seven.  But, then again, most people don't know about its religious origin.  It's just a fun part of Christmas, as well as birthday, celebrations.)

Heading inside the long tent set up along the street, there is a myriad of piñatas.  Besides the traditional ones, nowadays they appear in all sorts of forms.

Ah, but who would want to hit Santa or Rudolph... or even Wonder Woman... with a stick?

I went inside the market building and the piñata wonderland continued.  I was surprised to see them hanging above the produce section.  Alejandro later told me that that is the traditional place for piñatas since originally they were filled with fruit.

 

Notice the Superman and Star Wars piñatas in the upper right.

The piñatas are an integral part of the "posadas" which are held the nine nights before Christmas.  The neighborhood processions represent Mary and Joseph looking for room at the inn (the word "posada" means "inn"), and they culminate with the breaking of one or more piñatas. Nine nights of "posadas" hosted by millions of Mexico City households... that's a LOT of piñatas!

In this stall you can see how the piñatas are made.  Originally they were made from pottery, but most of them now are papier-mache.  You can see high in the rafters the round balloons that have been covered with papier-mache.  The cones are made with light-weight cardboard and glued onto the globe.  Then the entire piñata is covered with colorful strips of cut tissue paper.

 This fellow was attaching the cones onto a piñata.

Before the Day of the Dead, the stalls along the periphery of the market were filled with Day of the Dead decorations.  Now those stalls were selling Christmas decorations.  Most of the stuff is imported from China.

However, these boxes of "esferas" (Christmas tree balls) were proudly made in Mexico (hecho en México).

These were made in Chignahuapan, a town in the state of Puebla which is known for its Christmas ornaments.

I finally found a section of the market selling what is an essential part of Christmas in Mexico, the "nacimiento" or Nativity scene.  

Some of the figures were very refined, but I am not sure if they were made in Mexico or not.

But these more primitive, clay figurines are very traditional and definitely made in Mexico.

Many Mexican families put up very large, elaborate Nativity scenes that include an entire village full of Mexican people from all walks of life.  And there are animals, and houses, and wells, and bridges crossing rivers, and cactus, and lots and lots of moss to make your landscape look realistic.

It was mid-November, and I was surprised to see stalls outside the market building selling cut Christmas trees.  How are they going to make it through the Day of the Kings on January 6th?

Finally I passed through the enormous section of the Jamaica Market that is devoted to flowers.  The marigolds of the Day of the Dead were long gone, and in their place were "flores de Nochebuena"... Christmas Eve flowers... known to us "gringos" as poinsettias.

The poinsettia originated in Mexico, and got its name from Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.   He introduced the plant to the U.S. in the 1820s.

A visit to the Jamaica Market this time of year will certainly put you in the Christmas spirit!