ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Posadas are central to Christmas season in Mexico. Literally, the word means an inn. Posadas are part of a centurieslong tradition that recreates Mary and Joseph's search for a place where the baby Jesus could be born. But in Mexico City, they have become just a reason to party. NPR's Eyder Peralta sends us this postcard about one woman fighting to keep them traditional.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Maria de los Angeles Garcia says all it took was one song to change her life.
MARIA DE LOS ANGELES GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "It touched me so deeply. I burst into tears." It was almost 30 years ago, a 24 of December, at the last of nine Christmas posadas. For nine days, neighbors knock on doors with an image of the Virgin Mary and Joseph. Every day, one neighbor opens their door. On the final day, the faithful arrive with a statue of baby Jesus. As they lay it down, they sing a villancico.
GARCIA: (Singing in Spanish)
PERALTA: "I don't know, my beautiful boy, what I've seen in you."
GARCIA: (Singing in Spanish).
PERALTA: "Your beauty, your pureness."
GARCIA: (Singing in Spanish).
PERALTA: "It steals my soul. It covers me with love."
GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Oh, how it filled my heart." Garcia says it was around that time that she went to the houses of the elders in this neighborhood of Mexico City. They were too old to lead the posadas, so she asked them to teach her what they knew. They brought out a notebook with handwritten songs. For days, they sang so she could take notes.
GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "It was hours of transcribing the songs," she says. And then, 26 years ago, she started leading the posadas. At first, neighbors refused to join. Nah, they'd say, we're celebrating just with family. This neighborhood is in the middle of Mexico City by the airport, so it's urban and filled with people from everywhere. But she insisted.
GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: She would tell them, "look, before it urbanized, this was a village, and this is part of our tradition." A pinata for the kids and the party afterward remain, but Garcia brought back songs that hadn't been heard in decades.
GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: The older people in the neighborhood told her, "I used to hear those songs as a kid. How cool that you're bringing this back." Some of them, she said, wept, and suddenly, the neighbors started to join.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL RINGING)
PERALTA: A couple of nights later, about 200 of them gather for the first posada of the season. A statue of the nativity scene is carried by men through the narrow streets. All the neighbors carry candles, and Garcia leads them through an age-old tradition.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing in Spanish).
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing in Spanish).
PERALTA: Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOSES SUN'S "O HOLY NIGHT (INSTRUMENTAL)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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