Hello!

How are you doing? I hope everything is going well.

Today I’d like to talk about a group of days in Mexico that are known as el Maratón Lupe-Reyes. This marathon starts on December 12^th, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and ends on January 6^th, the Day of the Three Wise Men. The name comes from those two dates. “Lupe” comes from the way we call people named Gudalupe (or Lupita if it’s a woman), and Reyes comes from el Día de los Reyes Magos, which how we call the January 6^th festivity.

People call it a marathon because there are a series of holidays and celebrations and, of course, because there is plenty of food to eat from el Día de la Virgen (December 12) until el Día de Reyes (January 6th). And why is that you may wonder? Well because some people say prayers to the Virgin on her day. After that they invite the people who attended to have a snack (un refrigerio), an afternoon snack (una merienda) or a complete dinner (una cena completa); it depends on the budget.

After that comes las posadas (Christmas celebrations). Traditionally there are nine posadas, from December 16 up to 24. They recreate the moment when Virgin Mary (la Virgen María) and Saint Joseph (San José) were asking for an inn (posada, the name of the celebration comes from this word) where they can stay and spend the night.

Nowadays, we call posadas any type of Christmas party: at work, with friends, or with neighbors, and almost every social group has a party. Then comes la cena de Nochebuena (Christmas Eve dinner) and el recalentado (reheated leftovers) en Navidad (on Christmas) the day after. We also have la cena de fin de año (New Year’s Eve dinner) and otro recalentado (another reheat) en Año Nuevo (on New Year). Finally, on January 6^th, we eat la rosca de reyes (king cake). It’s a marathon, but instead of running, we celebrate and eat.

Now, it’s your turn! Have you ever heard of this celebration before?

Could you think of a situation where you could use it? Let me know in the comments.

See you next time!

Crédito de la foto de portada | Photo credit: Andy Hay on Unsplash