Mexico celebrated its 199th Day of Independence 2 Wednesdays ago. Typically this is a very important holiday here, but since this one kicked off the 200th year of independence, it was to be even more celebrated than usual.
The weekend before the big day Dan, Tom, and I were faced with a very important decision about where to celebrate such a momentous occasion. Recognizing it as a potentially very dangerous time with many Mexicans very intoxicated and worked up into a national fervor we decided to lay low and have a quiet night...in the Zocalo of Mexico City.
With almost 19 million inhabitants, Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world, by far the largest and most important in Mexico, and not to mention their capital. The Zocalo or city center is regarded as the place to be by the entire country so what you end up with is a city which is the equivalent of their Los Angeles, Washington DC, and NYC combined with the Zocalo being like Times Square for the New Year's ball drop on steroids.
On that Tuesday afternoon the three of us boarded a bus for Mexico City with three other girls, one of which was Paulina who lives in Mexico City and has a family which invited us to stay at their house overnight and also enjoy their unbelievable party they were throwing for their friends and family.
We showed up to the house around 6 just as the fiesta was getting started. I haven't seen a table that full of food nor that many bottles of tequila in quite a while, but let no time waste (after a quick change into some official Mexican attire) in partaking in the food portion of that offering.
The parents could not have been more hospitable and we had a great time with all the friends and family that poured into the house including my new best friend Carlos.
Around 9 we were met with a very pleasant surprise when a mariachi band showed up and graced us with an hour and a half of music and entertainment.
After a dance or two (if you can call what I was doing dancing) with Paulina's sister, mother, and grandmother (three generations is always a good stat), we rounded up our group of 6 (only took $4 worth of pesos and nothing else with me in the event that someone fancied the 6'3 white guy a prime target) and headed for the metro which would take us to the Zocalo.
Fortunately it started pouring rain just as we left the house, bad for the picture turnout, but did not deter the spirits of our crowd.
After taking the metro we had about 20 minute walk to the Zocalo. The brightness of the lights and fire works and the incredible amount of noise intensified with every step and by the time we got to the mass of humanity standing in and around the square, we were pumped.
The way it works is every zocalo in Mexico has the most prominent speaker they can get come and give a little speech called the grito around 11 PM the day before the Independence Day. That night everyone has a massive fiesta and then the next day no one has work or school and there is usually some type of parade.
After some less than reassuring metal detector and police searches we entered the Zocalo and after being completely surrounded by people for as far as the eye could see, heard Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico come out and give the grito.
Despite some horrific chants aimed at El Presidente (apparently not too popular for his efforts at combating the drug cartels as I was later informed), everyone went crazy for the speech and after about 3 minutes of it, an unbelievable fire work show ensued with traditional mariachi bands all over the place making quite a cacophony of Mexican music.
From that point the party apparently continues for quite a while, but after having received multiple pieces of advice that said clear out as soon as the fire works end, we bolted back for the subway.
Except for a few hate crimes with bottles of foam similar to silly string where Tom, Dan, and I were downright targeted by some locals (though we didn't seem to mind too much), we were fortunate enough to not run into any troubles.
We arrived home and spiced up a bit of the after party then hit the sack.
The next day we got back on the metro and headed down to Avenue Juarez for the annual Independence Day military parade. We saw a lot of soldiers with a lot of guns and a couple phenomenal trombone sections
Next, we cruised over to the Reforma Avenue which is the main stretch of Mexico City and houses some awesome fountains and statues.
Once we had a look around there it was back to Paulina's house for a quick bite to eat and then off to the bus station for the return trip.
It was another great experience in Mexico. Very cool to see so many people so infused with national pride and we were very lucky to have been able to get right to the very center of the entire country for such an important day.
The next couple days will hopefully be a little more on the calm side as Monday brings the first concert of the year for the orchestra in which, as I was informed by the director Thursday, despite my inability to get through the entirety of any one of our 7 songs, I will be playing. God bless the audience...
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