It's not gold, frankincense and myrrh these days. And forget Santa Clause. The big day in Mexico for kids and presents is not Christmas, it's today, January 6.
The gifts come from the Reyes Magos, aka the Magi, the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings. I just learned their names are Melchor, Baltasar and Gaspar.
The best place to be in all Mexico to see this trio on January 6 might be the small town of Reyes Etla. It's named after these three Reyes (kings) and honours them with a five day celebration.
By a happy coincidence we found ourselves there a few years ago.
It was thanks to Nataly, a teenager who Dave had met the previous week at an English/Spanish language exchange we often attend in Oaxaca. She casually invited us to the festival in her town but no arrangements were made to get there or to meet her, and we didn't know a thing about the event.
But it seemed enticing so we set out the morning of January 6, 2019. After asking lots of local people for directions and taking three taxis we arrived at the beautifully decorated entrance to Reyes Etla.
Nataly, her mother Florencia, and her younger sister Salona quickly spotted us, not too difficult, I think we were the only foreigners in town.
Catholic Mass had just ended and families were posing in the church with the three Kings. They stayed in character, I never saw those Wise Men/Kings/Magi smile once.
They took the job seriously. Nataly told us it was an honour for them to be chosen and their families would have had to save money all year to pay for the children's gifts, food, live music, fireworks, parades and rodeos throughout the week.
Everyone else in the town donated what they could to the biggest event of the year. After all, the community was named after these guys.
What a spectacle!
Every child received presents tossed by the three Magos who circled the town square many times on horseback. Round and round, thousands of small toys and candies were showered into the crowd, then even the adults started catching plastic basins and other kitchen items that came flying their way.
I almost caught a red pail.
We weren't sure where we were heading but happily followed this noisy band led by a King on horseback (turn on your sound if you want, but careful, it's loud).
Long tables were set up for a tasty dinner served by members of the community. We tried to pay but no one would accept money. They weren't looking for tourist bucks here.
The atmosphere was calm and quiet until two bands started playing against each other, an ear-splitting battle of the brass. Mexican music has only one volume as you may know.
If this is tourism it's the best kind, an authentic celebration for the people of the town as it's been for generations. We were appreciative spectators and felt very comfortable and welcome.
Nataly invited us to stay for the nighttime fireworks but our adventuresome spirit has limits. A whole town partying with pounding music and undoubtedly plenty of drinking late into the night... we thought not. It was time to find a taxi and head back to the city like the sensible retirees we were.
We were more than satisfied with such an interesting afternoon in rural Mexico. Thank you Nataly!
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PS I saw these kids in another town that day, thrilled with their gender-specific presents from the Reyes Magos.
