Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Grab the beverage of your choice and sit back, this is a long blog - mostly pictures. 
Every 12th of December on the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe children dress in colorful traditional indigenous clothes and visit the big Cathedral in Centro. So Wednesday we went downtown to see the children. We do this every year, never get tired of going. The streets around the Cathedral were closed to traffic and were filled with vendors. They were selling everything from food to toys to religious articles. This is in front of the church. 

On the patio of the church were flower sellers. Also an area selling food and tables and chairs to sit at.

As usual I took a zillion pictures, had to choose which ones to share. I have cropped the parents out of most of them. 

The priests were at every door with their donation baskets. 

This had been used in a procession to the church. We didn't see any processions this year on this day, but had seen a few the evening before.

The side street. It too full of vendors. This is the main street leading to the Central Market - so traffic was a mess being detoured. Last year the sidewalks were extended and the streets repaved. You can see the old tile and new sidewalk.

What is the guy doing up on the building??? The building houses a very expensive department store. Years ago when we forgot our debit card in an ATM it got used at this store - over 2,000 dollars of merchandise was purchased. Only a couple of items. Our bank took care of it right away. 

But back to the reason we were here. 

Notice the mustache. I guess Juan Diego who talked to the Virgin had a mustache. On average it costs 400 pesos [about US$20] to dress the children. Some are more elaborate than others. 

Every year the photographers get more and more sophisticated with their sets, cameras, laptops and what they can put the pictures on. All sizes of photos, cups, calendars and mouse pads. 

The majority of the children were eight or nine or younger. Lots of babies. We saw one who was one week old. Most are wearing sandals on their feet. Duh - where else would they be wearing them. 

Mama and grandmother and little boy. He sure has a lot of hair. 

One of the backdrops for the photos. 

She isn't as interested as her parents are in the setting.

This was a sweetie - mom was proud to show him off.

All dressed up, even flowers on her shoes.

A lot of the photographers had car seats for the babies this year. 

Another backdrop. Many donkeys to sit on and/or carts to sit in. He has a mustache and a goatee.

Several of the children had backpacks on.

Not interested in what is going on around them.

Checking out the different back drops - or maybe prices.

The heck with the picture, give me the bottle. 

I thought this set up was neat. Making tortillas

Not happy at all. 

Watching her younger sister.

Chubby cheeks

A whole family dressed up watching someone being photographed. 

Only a few months old. 

Hum...what am I doing here?

Now that is a mustache!

His brother. 

I'm ready to go home.

I could have stayed there all day - but after about 45 minutes we left. 

Every year I look forward to this day. Whole families come together from grandparents to tiny babies. Every one is patient, well except for the occasional child who is not sure about sitting on the burro. The vendors do a brisk business, food smells delicious. The church seems to do well with their collections. Hopefully the Virgin looks after all the children. 
We did a few other things that day but they will wait. We had rain again in the evening. Helps keep some of the dust down.