On the 11th day of Christmas ... a video to prepare for the Dia de los Tres Reyes on January 6, a.k.a. Three Kings Day, a.k.a Epiphany, on this, Epiphany Sunday, when we remember the visit of the Magi to the nacimiento.

Is this not a sweet video?



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Today we visited Tonalá and Tlaquepaque. On Sundays there is a massive street market in Tonalá, up and down the streets and winding around blocks and blocks, with crafts from all over Mexico. I even found a stand where I recognized handmade crafts from Chiapas - little woolen stuffed animals in deep colors, muy chiapaneco. After a few hours of browsing the craft stands, Erica and Fred ducked into a little store to buy some shiny blown glass creations. Chris and I stood on a corner to wait, and a man hurried over and handed us a flyer for his seafood restaurant. Seeing that he had a few minutes before the next tourist would cross his path, he asked us where we were from, and we had a lively conversation about different places in the United States and in Mexico. The man told us he had some family living in the United States, but he preferred to live in Mexico. "Es mas libre," he told us, explaining that he felt Mexico was a freer place because there were people out and about, on the streets and in the plazas day and night. Looking around at the hundreds of people crowding Tonalá's streets, it was hard to disagree.

Next we hopped a bus for the short ride to neighboring Tlaquepaque. It is difficult to overstate just how much fun that word is to say. It's pronounced "TLAH-kay-PAH-kay." See? Just try saying it only once. I can't decide which place name is better to say out loud: Tlaquepaque or Zacatecas.

After getting some food at a little plaza with live mariachi music and traditional Jalisco dances, we ambled down Tlaquepaque's streets, where most of the galleries and upscale shops were closed for Sunday. A few outdoor stands were still open, and Chris stopped to buy a kind of bag she'd had her eye on for awhile. Here she is with her nuevo bolso (and in her new scarf, I should add - muy bohemia, no?)...