i am so glad that mexico is independent

because it sure is a good reason to have a fiesta. i was so excited when i found out about the fiesta mexicana and EL GRITO, i immediately called my friend, emily, and said that i found something even better than greek fest: mexifest!! emily suggested we do both...brilliant.

six years ago i was in mexico for independence day. i stood in the crowd of exuberant mexicans listening to the mayor on a balcony above us talk about all the great things about mexico (tequila and enchiladas, mainly). then we did "el grito" (the shout). it consisted of him shouting, "Viva Mexico!" and we'd respond "VIVA!!" each time louder than the last. then there was cheering and singing and dancing and much merrymaking. i loved it. i love mexicans and their culture. i loved lying in my bed at night listening to the neighbor's fiesta music every night. i loved eating pig skins wrapped in tortillas. i loved going to the wal-mart in chihuahua and being greeted by, not a man with carts, but a mariachi band in full costume WITH A TRUMPET. i loved seeing ruins among the tumbleweed and cactus. i loved living with the vizcainos and eating lupe's cooking every day. i loved eating tortas with peppers so hot my face went numb. i loved saluting the flag hitler style and singing the national anthem with gusto every monday morning at school. i have very fond memories of mexico, so i was SO EXCITED to be able to do el grito in the company of mexicans again. (my class and i did el grito on cinco de mayo last year, but it's not the same with 26 pasty-faced third graders.)

first, we went to the greek fest: delicious gyros, loukoumathes, spanakopita, dolmathes. fun dances. hot greek guys getting wasted. all things i love. and normally, that would be heavenly enough. but i had other things on my mind. we walked to fiesta mexicana and i was one happy girl. we listened to the music, we drank the horchata, we ate the empanadas, i won a cd of crappy mexican songs and then the moment arrived. we were led in el grito by some guy:
Viva la independencia de Mexico! Viva!
Viva la patria! Viva!
Viva Hidalgo! Viva!
Viva Mexico! VIVA!
Viva Mexico! VIVA!!!
Viva Mexico! VIVA!!!

then we immediately started singing el himno nacional. i sang it with such enthusiasm you'd think i was born and bred mexican. there were small children frightened by my singing, but i didn't care. after the himno we listened to some mariachi and then left, knowing the best was over. so we walked back to the train and stumbled across ANOTHER FIESTA!! first greek fest, then mexifest, now mexifest PART 2?!?! this was shaping up to be a great day. we walked right in and found ourselves in the midst of a much smaller party. also, we were the ONLY white people there. maybe that's why the group of guys started laughing at us. then we started dancing to the cheesy mexican pop band that was playing. that is definitely why the second group of guys started laughing at us. i was feeling bold (and giddy, of course: 2 mexifests!!!) so i said, what's so funny?!?!? and the whole second group came over to us and 2 of them asked us to dance. so we did. the dance area had about 20 people in it and then there were 100 or so people sitting in chairs watching the dancers and the band. and we went right up to the middle of the dance area and started boogie-ing the night away. in front of all the spectators. with our bags slung over our shoulders. with 2 attractive mexicans. the people dancing were fairly tame dancers (as most people are). i am not one of those people. i like to think i'm no slouch on the dance floor, but i've seen videos that prove otherwise. i look ridiculous. and really, that knowledge should stop me, but it doesn't. despite being the biggest spectacle of the night, we had a great time. it got even better when we decided it was time to go (we'd humiliated ourselves enough and it was close to bedtime: 10 pm) and these guys asked us for our phone numbers. we were totally unprepared and had not had adequate time to prepare a good excuse (i'm sorry, i only date guys who have social security numbers) so we gave them our numbers. i did not even have the presence of mind to give a fake number. i was still reeling with the success of my dance performance, i guess. then they mexi-kissed us on the cheeks and we left. keep in mind, this was all done in front of 100 spectators (fans). i hope they enjoyed watching our love story unfold. happy birthday, mexico lindo!

i wonder when the india fest is.