¡Viva México!

Today is the celebration of Independence Day, comemorating September 16, 1810, when Miguel Hidalgo delivered his speech El Grito de Dolores and announced the Mexican revolt against Spanish rule, calling on the indians and mestizos to retaliate against the hated native Spaniards who had exploited and oppressed Mexicans for ten generations. This is not to be confused with May 5, or Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican national holiday that celebrates the Mexican victory over the French army in 1862.

We got ourselves a coffee and headed to the plaza to walk around for the afternoon, watching the excitement. The construction of a bandstand in the square was completed, and tons of women were setting up their food stalls in anticipation for the evening crowds. Some were already open, and we had some great food for lunch. School was out, so kids were running around, buying up Mexican flags and hats. All of the buildings around the square are adorned with red, white and green banners and lights of the same colours are strung up from the trees in the plaza and across streets. After wandering around, we went back to our room to relax for a while.

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the plaza, got a few beers and sat outside the cathedral, just watching the crowds go by. We chatted to a few village cute girls wanting to sell us bracelets and belts, and somehow they tricked us into giving them our leftover peanuts and pepitas. We had a great dinner, cooked up freshly in one of the little food stalls. It reminded me a lot of our church´s annual BBQ I went to every year growing up. As it got dark, we got ourselves a few more beers and watched the entertainment on the bandstand: mariachi bands and dancing in full traditional costumes. We then wandered down the pedestrian mall and had a few drinks in a bar while enjoying the live band. Nigel felt it necessary to have some tequila, being in Mexico and all. I, of course, declined and had a piña colada instead. Around 10:30 we wandered back out to the plaza and stood in the thick crowd to wait for the 11:00 fireworks. We were really looking forward to these, seeing as how Mexicans are know for their crazy fireworks displays. And we were not disappointed. On top of the governer´s palace were 4 HUGE wheels strung with different types of pyrotechnics, along with strands along the roof. The fireworks were set off from the top of the building, with the hundreds of people gathered directly below. It was crazy with the fire remnants falling into the crowd. At one point we thought that one or two of the fireworks wheels would spin right off of their axes, fall down into the crowd, and roll on through. It was scary but exciting. When they were over, we slowly wedged our way through the hordes and headed back to the hotel. ¡Viva México!