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D.D. somehow assumed there would be a grand emporium for piñatas, showcasing all the various styles and characters available. But no such central supply could be located. Instead, the narrow walkways through the market serve as the showroom, with the fruit and vegetable vendors, as well as stalls selling candy and dried foods (spices, pasta, etc.), festooned with these gaudy figures.
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Piñatas have an intriguing history. Marco Polo, that intrepid Croatian explorer of unknown lands to the East, brought the custom back from exotic China to the Italian peninsula, whence it spread westward to Spain, and thence to Mexico in the 1600s with the invasion of Catholic missionaries.
Many of these piñatas will meet their end fulfill their destiny at posadas held in the barrios and around town in the lead-up to Christmas. Although traditionally a re-creation of the journey of Mary and Joseph in search of a place to stay before the birth of El Niño Jesus, today posadas are an excuse to party-down. Streets are blocked to vehicle traffic and bonfires lit on the pavement, fueled by whatever scrap wood could be scavenged in the neighborhood. Families who live on the street bring out chairs to circle the fires and share brandy or tequila or rompope, the Mexican version of eggnog spiked with rum. Ubiquitous boom-boxes blare ranchero music, not Christmas carols.
Late in the evening, the piñatas are suspended from the eaves of a house, and blindfolded kids and tipsy adults alike get a chance to take a swing at the hapless figure. When the clay pot inside succumbs to the final blow and shatters, squealing kids scramble to gather their share of the candies and tiny toys that rain down to the pavement.
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