Not a Mexican Tradition!

A highlight of my trip into Cancun yesterday was listening to and sharing in the rant of a cabbie from Walmart to Puerto Juarez. Mexico is in full Christmas mania. Things are flying off the shelves in Walmart. Acrylic drinking glasses for the apartments aren't there any more! The six I have will have to do.
I wanted a wreath frame I had seen two weeks ago. Gone! Guys on street corners are selling Santa Claus hats with antlers. It is truly nuts!
The cabbie's wife spend two years in the US and wants a Christmas tree. It's not a Mexican tradition! A wreathe, well, OK. It symbolizes the crown of thorns Jesus would wear before his crucifiction. But a Christmas tree, in what fairy tale, railed the cabbie!
And Halloween. Oh, he got me started! Not on my Christian calendar, or his! I told him about the school Halloween parade last week. On what calendar was that, he ranted.
Well, I just needed to vent. The morning was great in Cancun.
I got to Migracion early, saw Roger and Garnette waiting to deal with the aftermath of their FM3 renewal, they paid twice because the system cannot credit, and I got fingerprinted and offered my signature multiple times. Now, the document goes to Chetumal for a rubber stamp and I'll have it in hand within 10 days.
Only then will I be able to get a new and now more proper tax payer ID. Migracian seemed unconcerned with the casi. Casi Mexicana, is what Miguel is calling me. Casi Casi, almost almost.
But back to this Christmas business. The mania is way worse than that in the US. We have a major holiday in Thanksgiving to put on the brakes, or to open the gates. Here, folks start their Christmas shopping in August. The frenzy just builds and builds. Until the kids start whining for Christmas trees because of TV and cartoons. Listen up. It's not a Mexican tradition.
And me, I thump my chest with pride. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong: I think I may be the first person from Isla Mujeres to have ever bought Hershey's chocolate chips in Mexico. I am a good shopper, so I note what is available. The chips I got Tuesday have never been here before! Yes, two bags!
And I saw Marco in the store before that, so I couldn't pass the news on to Julie! But maybe a reader will. Julie, there's chocolate chips at Walmart. But look out. Stuff is flying off the shelves! That IS a Mexican tradition!
So in planning Friday's party, Miguel and I shared a tequilita. Casi casi boracho! But I could lie down until it passed. Poor Miguel, working under disability!