¡Viva México!

Last weekend, Mexico celebrated it 200th birthday! Apparently they had been planning it for a long time (as in years) and it was, needless to say, a pretty big deal. The logo on the right here can be seen all over the place. It is pretty insane how it worked out, really, with the 2 and the 1 in 2010 and the Bicenternario Independencia and the Centenario Revolución. How did they plan that so well? Hidalgo must have timed his bell ringing specifically for this...and my parents for having me when they did and knowing of all the years to be in Mexico, this would be the one. They even set up a "Ruta 2010" that takes people to historic sites of the Independence and the Revolution all over Mexico.
Speaking of Hidalgo, a brief note of history. The Independence is celebrated on the 16th of September. On the eve of the Independence is what is called  "el Grito de Dolores." "El Grito" was the the battle cry for Independence made by Hildalgo back in 1890. He shouted in front of his congregation a series of battle cries to begin the Independence. Now, every year the municipal governor or other such head of government stands in front of the people of the town doing "el Grito" and receiving responses of "¡Viva!" from their citizens. It ends with three shouts of ¡Viva México! and then they ring the bell, just like Hidalgo did to rally the people. In Mexico City, the President  is the one who does it, and I heard it was really cool to watch on TV, but I would not have given up our experience of "el Grito."

Mama Mary, me, and Aimee in the Zócalo

The holiday break was spent with our host families and the day of the 15th we kept hearing that no one was going to the zócalo, or town square, for the Grito that night. It was too crowded and potentially dangerous. I went earlier with my family and with some other students and the atmosphere was incredible. There was a massive market set up in the streets and thousands of people were walking around in the national colors or even in traditional dress. People were selling "bigotes" (mustaches) everywhere in the spirit of Hidalgo. All of this awesome made it impossible for us to leave. We shyly told our mothers we would like to stay and they said they would wait with us until some male escorts arrived.
Once they did, the mothers left and we walked around the market. I bought a bigote to add to my collection at home, one of the best cemitas I have had (explanation to follow in a future MW...for now, it's a sandwhich...even though it's so much more), and a large piece of flan. Viva México. Every minute, more and more people arrived at the zócalo and it was nearing impossible to make significant advancements in location. We finally made it back to the zócalo and waited in the crowd for about 20 minutes until it all began. I caught it on film to give you, dear readers, a small taste of what it was like. The video does not give you even close to an idea the amount of people there, but the whole center and the streets adjacent were packed shoulder to shoulder.

After "el Grito" there were lots of fireworks being shot off from the Cathedral and often at the Cathedral. Hopefully there was not too much damage done to it. Getting back was a bit of a doozy. The amount of people and the lack of designated directional lanes on the paths through the zócalo caused a roughly ten minute standstill. I could not move and inch and all I could do was smile at the man I was smashed against. I literally could have lifted my feet up and would have been suspended by the pressure coming on all sides. In the spirit of my dad, I made some sheep sounds and eventually was able to move. After some fence climbing and sweat wiping, we made it out of the zócalo, into a cab, and safely back to our beds. It was, overall, an incredible experience being in the center of the town surrounded by extremely proud and spirited Mexican people. As I watched the fireworks, I was thinking about how honored I felt to be there with them and how much I admired them for their loyalty to their country.

Just eatin' up the Karaoke. Mama Mary sure can sing!

For the Independence the next day, the host families put on a huge party in order to celebrate with us! There was tons of food, desserts, dancing, and especially karaoke. Apparently karaoke is pretty big around here, and the host mothers sure did enjoy it. It was a blast being with them and they were so happy to share their culture with us. We got to share a little of ours too when the macarena came on. Otherwise, they were some of the most fun dance party people I've been with. We did all of these group dances that they lead and it was fantastic!

The host mothers and Lisette 

 When I finally left with my family, I went almost immediately to the hospital shelter with Mama Mary, where she is a pretty much full-time volunteer. There is a shelter next to the hospital where families of patients can stay and eat. One of the families who had stayed in the shelter had a son who had died of cancer three days before. They called Mary to help hand out a massive amount of pan dulces to patients, nurses, doctors, and other families in the hospital. The father of the boy owns a panaderia and they wanted to show their gratitude for the support the people of the hospital showed them during their son's battle. Three days after their son died! I was very moved by them and how in the wake of tradgedy they stepped outside of their grief and wanted to give back to the community that had shown them so much love. So I got to help hand out some bread but mostly followed Mary around, watching her be awesome. She is so giving and has a huge capacity to love. I was really glad that I got to spend some time doing this with her, especially on this holiday.

Lisette gave us goodie bags with puppets in them!

The rest of the weekend was relaxing. I got to sleep a lot in a bed oh so much more comfortable than my spring board at UDLA. I also got to have some great conversations with my host dad about religion, leadership,  life, and love. He likes to draw diagrams, so I got sent home with some of those.


"200 años de ser orgullosamente mexicanos" is on billboards all over the place. It means "200 years of proudly being Mexican." I was so glad we got to experience so much of that pride this weekend. ¡Viva México!





Mexpandable Waistlines

Well, this edition of M.W. has a little bit less to do with...well...Mexpandable Waistlines. What I am getting at is that I doubt my consumption of this particular culinary treat contributed much to the belt area, but I hope it does not disappoint.
During our first trip into Cholula back in the beginning of August we saw several street vendors with buckets or bags of this clearly popular snack food. When we asked one of our amigos what they were, they responded "chapulines" and proceeded to inform us that in fact, they were grasshoppers. Yup. The term "chapulines" is specific to Mexico, where they are commonly eaten, and stems from the Nahuatal language of the Aztecs. Clearly, at this time, the vow to try one before leaving Mexico was made...
Some brief notes on preparation: The grasshoppers are collected from May until autumn, thoroughly washed, and toasted on a comal (clay cooking surface) with garlic, lemon juice and salt containing extract of agave worms. Tasty. They must be thoroughly cooked because if they are not, little nematode worms can infect a human host. So, keep that in mind next time you shop for grasshopper treats. I actually did not know this before I just popped one in my mouth this past weekend...for the sake of the blog, maybe that was for the best.

So, the experience. I was walking through the Independence Day market with my host mother, Mama Mary, my host sister, and Libby. Spirits were high, we had just bought some sweet masks, and by golly it was the Bicentennial of Mexican Independence!... conditions were prime. Libby and I saw a man sitting with his bucket of chapulines and knew it was the moment. The man gladly gave us a sample.


Trying not to think too much about it, I popped it in my mouth. CRUNCH. Oh yep, that was the head...oh man got a leg stuck in my teeth...alright let's try to get this all down and done with. And swallow. All in all, it didn't taste terrible. It was really salty and limey but the aftertaste was not the greatest. I'm sure it was high in protein though! I just hope I didn't offend the man with  the slightly disturbed face I had while I declined his offer to buy a whole bag.

 Do I recommend it? Well, no not really. It's kind of cool to have eaten a grasshopper, but other than that, I would stick to pretzels or crackers for your salty snack.
Thankfully, Mama Mary treated us to some nieve after that got the taste out of my mouth. Mango with chili chamoy. ¡Viva México!