Answer: B - The search for lodging by Mary and Joseph

Celebration of holidays
Constitution Day observes the forming of the Constitutions of 1857 and 1917. Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when the Mexicans defeated the French army.

On Mother's Day, daily life comes to a halt as everyone takes his or her mother out to lunch; expect gridlock in Mexico City. The President's Annual Message is an annual state of the nation address, usually on or around September 1. Independence Day starts at midnight, with the President giving the grito – Father Hidalgo's original cry for independence – at the Zócalo at the National Palace. People throw empty eggshells filled with confetti.

On All Saints' Day and Day of the Dead, families honor their dead relatives with elaborate altars in their homes. Candlelit processions are common, as are picnics and traditional foods such as skeleton-shaped sweets. Revolution Day is the anniversary of the 1910 revolution; there are parades in most towns and cities.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the year's most important religious holiday, celebrating Mexico's patron saint. There are mass pilgrimages to the Basilica of Guadalupe, in northern Mexico City. Christmas is celebrated beginning on December 15, when posadas travel door to door in commemoration of the journey of Mary and Joseph. There are popular morality plays and pinatas. Christmas Day is usually celebrated at home.

Excerpted from Living Abroad's Mexico report: Mexico / Orientation / Holidays and festivals

Written by Michael Cadden, SGMS-T, VP International Operations