Viva la Independencia!

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Journal Entry, 17/9/02 Cuernavaca

We survived one of the most powerful experiences we have ever had. I don’t know where to begin! We ended up going to Mexico City with two very nice women from our school. We got a room at the youth hostel directly behind the main cathedral in the main square (called the zocalo) of Mexico City. The cathedral is built on the ruins of the “Templo Mayor” or Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan. Aztec slaves were forced to destroy their pyramid and build the cathedral with the stones from the pyramid.

The zocalo is where the great Independence Day celebration takes place, and we were right in the midst of it all! The zocalo was lit up with lights in the colors of the Mexican flag. In fact, everything was decorated in the colors of the Mexican flag. There were people selling everything imaginable, and I mean everything in red, white and green. The zocalo was jam-packed with vendors and people buying everything.

Sunday the 15th at 11:00pm was the night of the reenactment of the famous cry for liberty. The massive zocalo was now even more jam-packed with people carrying Mexican flags of every size. There were people throwing confetti at each other and spraying each other with different colored foam much like shaving cream that was really obnoxious. Since we were the only gringas for miles we were frequently the target of this wonderful practice. (One of our compa\241eras was very tall and stood out like a beacon above the heads of the more diminutive Mexicans!)

At 11:00 the president of México, Vicente Fox came out and reenacted the famous “Grito de Hidalgo” or “cry of Hidalgo” and rang the bell of the National Palace. Supposedly, during the fight for independence from Spain in 1810, a group of criollos, or second generation Spaniards, was tired of not having the same rights as those born in Spain. They decided to meet to overthrow Spain but their secret meeting of conspirators was discovered. The bell and the crying out was to call all residents of “New Spain,” as México was called at that point, to rise up against the Spaniards and to tell them that the colonial rulers had found out about their meeting.

Unfortunately, for the majority of Mexicans, things did not change much. It was a fight for independence by Spaniards against Spaniards. You have to learn about the Mexican Revolution that began in 1910 to find out about freedom for the rest of Mexico. Even today, the indigenous people of Mexico still lack the rights and services of other Mexicans. They had a better standard of living before the conquistadors came.

After the very exciting reenactment, the bells of the cathedral (which is sinking, as we discussed in class) rang out and then we were treated to the longest and most spectacular fireworks show we all had ever seen. The most amazing part was that we were right in the middle of it all! From our perspective, it appeared that the fireworks were going off right over our heads. They actually were! What a thrill!

Thrilling too, was the crush of the crowd as we headed back to the hostel. But we all made it in one piece. We felt very safe because everywhere there were secret service men there to protect the president. (See pics!)

Yesterday morning before we headed back to Cuernavaca, we watched the Independence Day parade from the roof of the hostel. We all agreed that we had the most unforgettable time ever!!

We both are learning more and more Spanish and feeling very comfortable here. Sarah still misses her friends something awful though. I miss you all mucho too!