Mexico

=//By: Timoteo and Cheyanne//=

==Mexico is a country located directly below the United States. To its south are the countries of Belize and Guatemala. The country is approximately 1/5 the size of the U.S., covering about 742,000 square miles. Roughly 110 million people live within the borders, and the average life expectancy of the people is 76.2 years. Mexico City, in the heart of Mexico, is its capital and largest city. Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico, was elected to lead in 2006.== []

=__Mexican Christmas Traditions: Posadas__= This type of celebration lasts from December 16th through the 24th. It is an enactment of the looking for lodging of St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary. Each family in the neighborhood schedules a night that the Posadas will be held at their house, where a nativity scene has also been made. The hosts of the home are the innkeepers. The children and adults in the neighborhood are Los Peregrinos (pilgrims) who have requested lodging through singing a simple chant. Every person carries a small lit candle and four teens are chosen to carry 2 small statues of St. Joseph leading a donkey, with the other having the Virgin Mary riding side saddle. On midnight of the 24th after a mass, everyone has dinner with their families and places baby Jesus in the nativity scene. A depiction of a "Posadas" in Mexico. []

=__Mexican Christmas Traditions: Pastorelas__= A pastorelas in Mexico refers to the events prior to the birth of Jesus, including the manger and shepherds. It is a theatrical representation revolving around the pilgrimage of shepherds to Bethlehem to see the newborn Christ. It's roots got started in the 16th century. At its beginning, it was used by missionaries to force religious knowledge on the people of Mexico. In a nutshell, a pastorelas is the Mexican version of Europian medieval miracle plays. Today they generally are performed in the afternoon and evenings in December. These "plays" take place outdoors, including local people, school children, or sometimes even semi-professional traveling actors. Depending on the detail of each, they can last anywhere from a half hour to all night long. __The following link will take you to a video giving a great example of a pastorela:__ []

__Works Cited:__ []. [] [|www.wikipedia.com]