For 750 pesos per person (250 for children), Guadalajara’s popular New Mexico-style eatery Santo Coyote offers a premium international buffet, sparkling wine, a free international bar and the traditional 12-grape midnight challenge. There will also be a DJ and three dance floors for guests to boogie their way into 2012. Santo Coyote is on Lerdo de Tejada 2379. For reservations call 3616-8472.

Several English-speaking churches have announced plans to celebrate Christmas.

One of the cornerstones of traditional Christmas decorations is the poinsettia (nochebuena), a native Mexican plant that flowers over around the holiday.

Guadalajara-based, U.S. writer Michael Hogan will give a short talk entitled “The Expatriate Writer” at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Guadalajara at noon, Sunday, September 25, after the English Mass.