Celebrating Independence Day in Mexico

We recently celebrated Independence Day and our local fiestas patronales in Mexico.  While church bells, fireworks, morning pilgrims and mass at 5:00 AM had started the week before, festivities in the town square kicked off of on Wednesday, September 13, the same day my Peace Corps BFF, Natalie, came to visit.  I took her straight from the bus station to my English class, where she got to meet some of my favorite people in town.  Anytime you can bring someone from the US to your English class, it’s great because students can hear a different accent and practice those pleasantries that are key to successful small talk.

Me and Natalie with some budding artists.

After class, we headed to the main plaza where people were congregating for the night’s festivities. We saw the Virgin Guadalupe, followed by local businesses carrying paper goods in a formal procession to the church.  Natalie also got to taste our local fair food delicacy, sliced hot dogs wrapped in corn tortillas, held together with a toothpick and then deep fried.  It sounds weird, but we ate them for dinner for 3 days in a row, covered in cream, ketchup, mustard and salsa.  At 20 pesos a pop, it’s hard to find a more affordable dinner.  We also found the elusive churro man who is only out and about during festivals and enjoyed his cinnamon sugar gift from the gods. 

The party also brought my first “castillo de fuego,” which is essentially a 3-story structure made of fireworks that are spinning and shooting sparks in every direction.  Definitely not an OSHA-approved activity and when the two crowns at the top shoot high into the sky, all the kids chase it to claim their fiery prize.  Since Natalie and I were speaking English during her visit, we met people who were visiting from all over the US who wanted to speak English and hear about our experiences as volunteers.     

The flaming castle from afar. 

The next day, Natalie helped me with a community water event for elementary school students.  Approximately 100 students passed through our table in 2 hours, molding clay to create ocean and river scenes.  It was a really fun morning and we ran into those kids around town throughout her visit.   

Water-themed artwork. 

That night we headed out to participate in our first ever callejoneada.  We purchased a necklace with a small ceramic mug for 50 pesos and then had unlimited beverages during a 2 hour walk through the town with hundreds of our closest friends and a great band.  Almost everyone from my office was there, so Natalie got a true taste of my life as a volunteer.  We finished the night siting in the plaza eating more tortilla hotdogs with fries and listening to three competing bands play a mere 50 feet away from each other. 

The band that led the callejoneada.

Night torches. 

On Friday, we were eating breakfast when my back went out so the weekend got off to a slow start.  I wanted Natalie to see some of the surrounding countryside so we took a taxi out to visit my friends Kathleen and Russ.  They are originally from the US but have lived in Mexico for decades and have a beautiful home with lush views of our green landscape.  Natalie and Kathleen hiked down to see the spillway from the local dam, which was raging after all the recent rains, while I read magazines and chatted with Russ from the comfort of a chair on the front porch.

Enjoying the green countryside. 

View from my friend's house. 

That night I hobbled to the main square with Natalie for the official day of fiestas patronales in my pueblo.  We dined on – you guessed it – hotdogs and tortillas, tacos and a beverage that came in a great big pottery mug.  The plaza was super packed with people and we got to see a fiery procession, hear mariachi music from my favorite band, Mariachi Navidad, and participate in the grita. The grita is a late-night celebration where everyone yells together to celebrate the town, Mexico, and people of importance.  Viva Mexico!  Vivia el presidente!  Viva walking without pain!  

Friday night had the best firework show, which was launched from the roof of the church and included another spinning castle of fire and sparks.  In the US, there’s a rhythm to a professional firework show and you can clearly define the finale.  In Mexico, there are fireworks going off every 30 seconds to 7 minutes, which means you sometimes have big gaps over a 40-minute period.  We watched what we thought was the finale and started to head home, only to hear a new barrage of celebratory explosions high above.  We  sat down on the sidewalk to watch another 20 minutes of fireworks exploding high in the sky every 3-7 minutes.

Sights from the Independence Day parade. 

Nightly procession.   

Lovely ladies in the parade. 

Local royalty. 

Saturday was Independence Day so we got up early and hobbled to the closest viewing spot for the morning parade.  Music and precision marching are key elements of school instruction in Mexico so we watched school after school after school march by in their uniforms playing music that primarily consisted of trumpets and drums.  There was also a large contingency of women in ornate dresses and men in amazingly beautiful suits riding horses.  

We ended the day of festivities watching a sporting event where beautifully dressed horse riders had to run with a pencil and try to snag a ring on a ribbon that was dangling from a string hung about 10 feet above the road.  We have stone streets in my town so we watched men put dirt down on the road for the horses to stop without damaging their hooves.  It reminded of the runaway ramps that you often see on steep sections of freeways in the US.  

During Natalie’s visit, I decided I wanted to learn how to cross stitch so she helped get me set up with all the necessary materials and then taught me how to make small creatures and follow a pattern.  Natalie is one of my super gifted friends for decorative sewing and it was kind of awesome to be able to say, “hey, I’m I severe pain – can we go home and cross stitch?” and have my guest enthusiastically say yes.

Natalie brought me gummy worms and taught me how to cross stitch.  

My town is lovely year-round but it was extra great during the Independence Day celebration, so I would highly recommend a visit next year in September.  I will likely be gone, but hey, maybe I’ll go back with you.  :)