Domingo de Ramos

Today is "Domingo de Ramos"... Palm Sunday... the beginning of Holy Week.  This morning Alejandro and I went to the little plaza in front of the nearby parish church.  

I daresay that in front of every church in Mexico today there are vendors selling decorations woven from palm fronds.

At one side of the plaza there was a drill team of young people.  Alejandro pointed out that they were practicing for "Cinco de Mayo".  

"Cinco de Mayo" is the commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla.  Outside of the state of Puebla, it is not an important holiday in Mexico.  However, for some reason, Alejandro's neighborhood of San Juan de Aragón holds a noisy, chaotic reenactment of the battle each year.

Our real reason for coming to the plaza this morning was to buy breakfast.  There is a vendor here who sells tamales, hot from the steamer.

I bought savory tamales filled with "mole" and "salsa verde", and sweet tamales filled with fruit.  A big bag with more than enough to feed the five of us cost 180 pesos... about 9 U.S. dollars.

We then went to another vendor across the street and bought two liters of freshly squeezed orange juice.

We then went back to Alejandro's house for breakfast.  Tamales are traditional for birthdays.  A breakfast of tamales was requisite because today is Alejandro's birthday!