Another Post on Independence Day?
It may seem like I can't get enough of Independence, which is true in a way, but I'm also participating in a contest hosted by @mexico-trail. I had great hopes for this post, but unfortunately the world took a bit of a different turn. The celebration was fun, all right, but I didn't get all the material I wanted, so now I'm just shooting for being among the qualified participants. Plus, I'd like to tell you all about how we celebrated Mexico's Independence with my wife's family in the Mexican capital.
A Typical Family Fiesta
Whether it's Christmas, Mothers' Day, or someone's birthday, people in Mexico generally love to get together for a family celebration. Independence Day provides another perfect occasion for this, so ultimately the fiesta is not that much different from the rest. It usually starts out late in the evening with drinks and conversations, followed by a big dinner, and culminates with lots of music, dancing, and tequila (or mezcal, rum, whiskey, etc.).
Roof Party!
Last night was also a typical family fiesta. The party took place at my wife's aunt's house, where we'd previously had family gatherings. This time they were quite excited to have it on their roof space, which they recently turned into a terrace, ideal for these parties. Formerly we celebrated inside, or in their downstairs patio, where space is quite limited, so obviously they were quite happy to finally have enough room for people to move around and dance.
Unfortunately for me, the lighting situation on the roof was not the best. Don't get me wrong, it was no problem to see well enough so we wouldn't spill our drinks or dance off the roof. But my photos turned out rather dark, killing my hopes of winning this contest. But never mind, participation is what counts, right?
The other thing I felt a bit sorry about was that my wife's aunt's house is nowhere close to the nearest delegación, the town hall of the city district. That's where the local chief would come out on the balcony to shout Viva México, just like the President at the National Palace, and mayors and governors all over the country. Had we gone to her mom's house, like last year, we could have walked up to the local delegación in just five minutes, but this way I couldn't even take a photo of the guy on the balcony. Oh well...
El Grito
As I explained in my previous post, an important part of this day is the ringing of the bell by the president, and the cry for independence. And we couldn't have Independence Day without a grito, could we? In previous years we would sometimes go out to the delegación, though never to the National Palace in the city center. At best we'd watch the ringing of the bell on TV. But this year we didn't even do that. Just like most Mexicans probably, my wife's family is extremely critical of the current president. Okay, that's an understatement: they hate him with passion! So instead of listening to him, someone put on an alternative grito, probably by a political satirist, shouting something along the lines of:
¡Viva la corrupción! ¡Viva la impunidad! ¡Viva la ignorancia! ¡Viva la indiferencia de México! Political Protest
I don't think these words need to be translated, but being curious and wanting to cite my sources, I tried to look up who this satirist could be. It turns out, it was the cyberactivist group Anonymous, who hacked the website of the Mexican Cámara de Diputados (House of Representatives), and posted this alternative grito as a protest. In it they mockingly celebrate the freedom of the most powerful scoundrels, the incarceration without due process, the salaries of representatives, the governors stealing public funds, and the marriage of state forces with the organized crime, among other things. You can find further details on this here.
Fireworks
After this bit of political protest it was time for the fireworks. Fireworks are nothing out of the ordinary in Mexico. People tend to shoot them randomly throughout the year, even during the day when the only thing it produces is a bang, but increasingly so towards the end of the year. After Independence Day the occasions for fiestas and fireworks multiply, peaking between the Festival of the Lady of Guadelupe on Dec. 12 and Three Kings' Day on Jan. 6.
Our rooftop venue proved to be ideal to watch them, as each delegación had their own fireworks, plus the big one in the city center. Nice as they were, I would still call them moderate at best. But this is just me talking, someone growing up in Europe, where the sale of fireworks is so heavily regulated that in the two-day window before New Years people spend small fortunes and produce an insane amount of explosions.
Last night, however, even my dog was all right, which I'm quite happy about. She barked at the noisy sparks in the sky, seemingly annoyed, but nowhere as freaked out as when it thunders, hiding in panic under the sofa. Maybe it's better this way. Sure, Mexicans could probably keep up with the European craziness easily if they saved all their fireworks for one day, but spread out over the whole year like this it's much less scary.
Not to Forget the Typical Dish
Other than the grito, the typical thing about Mexican Independence Day is the pozole. Sure, it's not necessarily tied to this day, and people can and do eat it on other occasions as well. However, it is considered a Mexican tradition to eat this corn-pork soup on the Day of Independence. This time it was a super delicious one, made by my wife's aunt. So of course I went ahead and got the recipe for it. Pozole is not a simple dish, but I'll be happy to include it in my series of posts on Mexican delicacies. But I'll leave that for next time. For now, let me wrap up this Independence Day with a hearty grito of my own (secretly hoping for some saving points in @mexico-trail's competition):