Proper Piñata Protocol

So, it's that birthday time of year again (well, for me and Benito Juarez and springtime, at least), and after writing about mañanitas and diving head first into tres leches, it's about time for some piñata facts.

1 - I have never seen the rainbow donkey (in piñata form...or in real life, for that matter) that seem to be the traditional American piñata. It may be popular up north, but here in South Central, it is all about the traditional form of the five pointed star. Dora, Santa, and other human shapes are also common enough (but there's something weird about beating those ones).

2 - Piñatas are for birthdays, but also for other holidays, like the Posadas (9 days before Christmas), Christmas and New Year's Eve, but much to my dismay, hitting the piñata and knocking children over for candy seems to be only for other children.

3 - The best and most popular piñata candy is the Damy, a hard candy of milk and peanut flavoring, or its brother, Tomy, a caramel hard candy. (You can get them online and in highly Mexican areas, and I would recommend finding and trying them.)

4 - The number one rule of the piñata is that the youngest/smallest kids go first, the biggest/oldest ones last; that way, everyone gets at least one at bat.

5 - In the United States, we have the blindfolding, the spinning, and the moving of the piñata all right, but we lack the song. And the  piñata song is really quite important because it keeps the time of each child's turn.

Dale Dale Dale, Hit it, Hit it, Hit it,
No pierdas el tino, Don't lose your aim,
Porque si lo pierdes, Because if you lose it,
Pierdes el camino. Then you lose your way.

Dale Dale Dale, Hit it, Hit it, Hit it,
Dale, No le dio, Hit it, No you didn't,
Quitenle la venda, Take off the blindfold,
Porque sigo yo. Because it's my turn.

Ya le diste una, Now you hit it once
Ya le diste dos, Now you hit it twice
Ya le diste tres, Now you hit it three times
Y tu tiempo se acabo! And your time is done!


OK, so the song really does not translate well into English, but the idea is that when the song ends, so does your turn.

(Note: I know most of these pictures are inside, but that's because it rained all Christmas week in Veracruz this year. Generally, you want to do this whole piñata thing outdoors.)