Sunday, January 04, 2009

Three Kings Day - Almost

Tomorrow night is when the Three Kings leave gifts for the children. I knew that toy stalls go up in the mercados on the Fifth of January but I was thinking that since this was a weekend the toys might be out today on the fourth. I took the camera and went over to the San Juan de Dios Mercado but the only toys were some in the regular stalls.
Toys from the Three Kings is really a ONE DAY SALE. All the stalls will go up tonight and in the morning.

I just don't know how the Three Kings manage to do all their buying in one day but I'll report back tomorrow. And I'm sure that when the children wake up on the sixth of January the Three Kings will have left them something special.

4 comments:

1st Mate said...

Hey, these guys were kings! They either dug the stuff out of their private stash, or sent their lackeys out to buy it.

Bob Mrotek said...

Billie,
The thing is that many Mexican families live in small houses with no place to hide gifts. They either buy the toys "apartado" (on layaway) and pick them up on the 5th or they buy them at the last minute. Many times the children write a letter to the Reyes Magos on the 5th so the parents don't know what they want until the last minute. Sometimes the children put what they want on a piece of paper and tie it to a helium balloon and release it during the "cabalgata" (Three Kings parade) on the night of the 5th so that their wishes will float up to Heaven. That means that either Mamá or Papá will be out late running around for that last minute item. Finally, many people don't have any money after the expenses related to Navidad and it takes them until the last minute to either pawn something or get someone to loan them a few pesos. You will see that there are an awful lot of toys that are nothing but cheap plastic. Nevertheless, for the little kids especially, Los Reyes Magos are a really big deal. The toys that you show in the pictures are for rather well-to-do children. Take some photos on the 5th and you will see the contrast :)

GlorV1 said...

The doll reminds me of a doll I once had. I would love to have a dog like that little one there. Great photos.

Heather said...

When I took Spanish in high school, I always thought it made more sense that the Three Kings bring the children gifts instead of Santa Claus. I was also thinking that they probably don't give a ton of gifts like the celebration of greed some families have for Christmas here in the States. I'm not meaning anything terrible, but sometimes I think children get too much. Christmas with our daughter is exciting, but I'm sure she doesn't get as much as her friends get. We focus on one gift and then build a few things around it. And it's always something she can play and be active. This year she got a Wii and a few games. And then she had some little things in her stocking like microwave popcorn, deodorant (so she has her own - she's been using mine, LOL!).

BTW, I love the pics in your posts of the Catholic processions. It reminds me of my childhood in upstate PA. I lived in a very Italian Catholic community (I myself am Sicilian) and they had processions on practically most Saint's feast days. And the one for the patron saint of our church, St. Rocco, was huge!!! And every feast for Mary had a huge procession. I miss those so much!!!

And thank you so much for your kind comments on my blog today. It made me feel so good.