New Year's in Puebla

We celebrated Año Nuevo in Puebla with Omar's oldest brother, Hector, and his family.

Volcano Popocatepetl Omar and his parents

Amy and Omar with Omar's parents, his brother Hector and his wife Aby

At the church of Tonantzintla with Omar's parents and nephew Hector

Tonantzintla is a beautiful church and it was festively decorated for the visit of the Archbishop at Christmas

Downtown Cholula, a small town on the outskirts of Puebla
General/Papa Hector cutting his piece of the Rosca de Reyes (cake for 'Three Kings Day', January 6). The cake is full of plastic Baby Jesus'. If you get a piece with a baby inside you are to host a tamale party on February 2, Dia de la Candelaria.
Amy got one of the babies! (I'm holding it here.) Guess I need a tamale recipe.

Sightseeing in Mexico City

Amy in the Zocalo with the Palacio Nacional in the background. Every city and town in Mexico has a Zocalo, or plaza in the town center with a church and government buildings surrounding it. The Palacio Nacional is where the President used to work and is still used for Presidential meetings and events.

Pedestrian only street in Centro Historico

Centro Historico, a church with La Torre Latinoamerica behind it. There is an observation deck on the 44th floor. We went up for some great views of the city.

The huge Mexican flag (toward the right of this picture) in in the Zocalo. On the left is the Catedral Metropolitana and behind the flag is the Palacio National. In the middle of the Zocalo is a giant ice skating rink, free for residents of Mexico City.
Alameda Park

Palacio de Bellas Artes

An old building in Centro Historico covered in talavera tiles

The Angel of Independence on Reforma Avenue

Look for Amy (black jacket and waving)

Downtown street

The Basilica of Guadalupe

The old Basilica, which is sinking and leaning over, major construction is underway

San Juan Diego's miracle cloak hanging above the altar behind bulletproof glass

The old Basilica and the new one (1987) with the green roof

Omar and his parents

The zocalo in Coyoacan, a neighborhood towards the south of Mexico City

The church at Coyoacan's zocalo

Outside the Museo Frida Kahlo

The museum is in the house where Frida Kahlo was born, she later lived here with Diego Rivera

Yes, it snows in Mexico City---fake snow at an outdoor shopping mall

Museo Nacional de Antropologia

Six Flags con nuestros sobrinos

The day after Christmas Omar and I took our nieces and nephew to Six Flags, Mexico. Everyone had a blast!
Natalia, Hector, Renata and Paola with El Tio Chueco

Natalia and Amy competing a stuffed monkey

Hector, Natalia and Renata on the crazy pineapples (pinas locas)

Tio Omar con sus sobrinos

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

Christmas Eve, Mexico City. Somehow I didn't end up with a entire family picture, but his parents, four brothers and their families were all at his parent's house for Christmas Eve. The evening began with the posada, followed by pinatas, exchanging gifts and a big Christmas dinner. The festivities continued until 3am or so, which everyone declared was an early night :)
Nacimientos (Nativity Scenes) on display on Reforma Avenue, a major boulevard in Mexico City.

Another Nacimiento, this was on the side of a building.

Christmas Eve dinner

Andrea, the youngest in the family, starts off the action on the pinatas.

Ania explains to Amy the tradition of 'posadas.' One half the family stands outside, the other half inside and the groups sing verses to each other, acting out Mary and Joseph looking for a room at the inn.
Renata carries Baby Jesus into the house after the group inside opens the door and welcomes all of us in for the celebration.

Amy meets Andrea, the youngest of the Garcia Sanchez family on Christmas Eve. I met her parents (Omar's brother Mario aka Pollo and Laura) in DC, but not Andrea. She introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Andrea."