Mexico lures Lancers to visit for weeks

Alex+likes+to+take+a+break+from+his+life+here+and+go+to+Mexico.

Alex likes to take a break from his life here and go to Mexico.

Maritza Tolentino, Reporter

WITH THE holidays coming up, many students plan to go out of town while others stay here in West Valley. Going away can be a fun thing to do. Mexico is a common place for Lancers to go for the holidays. Mexico has its own way of celebrating different things, starting with what they call Las Posadas. This is a celebration that starts on December 16 through the 24 which takes some Lancers there.

“I have gone to Mexico every year, so I can visit my family and to party,” Alex Zavala (12) said. Zavala mentioned that he likes to take a break from his life here and go to Mexico, just to spend time with his family. When Zavala goes to Mexico, there is no one particular thing that he does.

Zavala and his family gather together just to go on with their day to day life and do not really have traditions. The family just celebrates Christmas and enjoys their time together, since they do not see each other every day. Zavala did mention that when his family goes to Mexico, they stay at his family’s house that they own there. They stay there whenever they go. The planning part of this trip was just decided from one day to another and they bought the tickets to go.

“Visiting my family is always the best way to celebrate the holidays,” Ariana Hernandez (12) said. Hernandez is going to Mexico for three weeks during the holidays to spend time with family and to party. A tradition that Hernandez and her family in Mexico have to on Dec. 25 is that they go and ask for candy, sort of like Halloween. Christmas is always a fun time for Hernandez as well as her family, since they do not see each other very often. Hernandez said her family planned the trip well in advance, and she has already filled out the necessary forms.

Going to Mexico is a tradition for a lot of the students here at Granger. “I go every year to spend my time with family and enjoy the time that I don’t get with them when I’m not there,” Karina Castillo (9) said. Like Hernandez and Zavala, Castillo and her family go to celebrate las posadas and to party. Castillo also does the same and it is her ‘get away.’

Taking time to rest from school for a few weeks is amazing as Castillo mentioned. What she finds most beautiful are the streets when they get filled with children and candies and everyone is just out having fun. In Mexico, technology isn’t something huge, they all just enjoy their time outside and together not worried about what other people post online. Going to Mexico was not a difficult planning process for Castillo, since she goes every year. She just needed to check the plane tickets and book her trip in a matter of seconds.

“When I am in Mexico, I don’t use my phone as much as I do here,” Stephanie Mendoza (11) said. She lived in Mexico a year or two ago and then moved here to Utah. She is planning on going there for the holidays for a week or two.

For Mendoza, it’s about the time spent around family and not about the number of days that she is there. She and her sister are excited to go back and visit with friends and neighbors. Mendoza has family here in Utah as well, and she can spend time with them, but for her it is not the same as spending it with her family in Mexico.