Today’s WordPress prompt asked about cities that I want to visit. Nope. I’m not writing about that. I’d rather write about other things today.

Friday night I went to a Posada (Christmas party) at La Bella Vita, an amazing Italian restaurant. There were eight of us from one of the local groups I belong to here in Aguascalientes. Our gift exchange was a blast! The idea was that we had to bring seven of the same item for the others in the group. So I came home with seven different gifts ranging from stainless steel chopsticks to butter cookies and everything in between. Needless to say we had a great time.

I found another English speaker in my neighborhood. Jerry is Mexican but lived in San Francisco for five years. He and his Mexican wife have a small cenaduria not too far from where I live. Their salads are amazing and so are their pastas. They make all of their food at home and bring it to the cenaduria. I have a small fridge and it is now full of healthy food.

The other night Charlotte and I went to El Centro to look at the lights. To our delight there was an amazing band playing. They were all alumni of UAA here in Aguascalientes. Their medley of Christmas music was most enjoyable and the air was festive with all the colorful lights surrounding us. Last night Carole and I went to El Centro and the entertainment included dancers and a band. The dancers weren’t all that entertaining but the band that followed was fabulous.

For the past several years I had a tradition of buying a small Christmas tree and decorating it. I would then give it to a friend when I’d head back up north in the spring. This year I decided to change things up. When I was at the tienguis the other day, I picked up some handmade Christmas decorations and these are now hanging on my walls.

Christmas is less than a week away. Here in Mexico the big celebration is La Buenanoche (Christmas Eve). December 25th is just a regular day, not a holiday. I miss the candle light services I went to back in the USA and Canada. The only time I found one here in Mexico was when I was living in Mazatlan. I intend to look for one of those on the internet this year.

My project for this week is to catch up on phone calls. I have not been good about those and I have friends back in the USA and Canada who have been complaining. With Christmas coming up fast, I need to get my act together and make those calls.

Have a great Sunday!