¡Viva México!

El 15 de septiembre is the big night for celebrating Mexican Independence Day.  Fortunately for us, it was also the birthday of a colleague, and he took us out to celebrate both occasions.  Unfortunately, the teachers on strike have completely taken over the downtown zócalo (more power to them!), so the "grito," or re-enactment of Miguel Hidalgo's yell that began the fight for Independence against Spain in 1810, was cancelled.  Instead of doing it in Cuernavaca (the capital of Morelos), the governor went to another city nearby, Cuautla.   We ended up being in a club at midnight, which is when the President rings the actual bell Hidalgo rang to alert the town, and shouts out over the crowd in the zócalo a series of "viva _(insert name/ideals)_" that the crowd repeats.  You can watch what we missed at: 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1524htZMVOM&feature=related

    We hada lot of fun dancing salsa and watching the waiters, who were all dressed up as girls.  I couldn't figure out a reason beyond giving them an excuse to dance with the singers of the live band.  I've always loved how willing to cross-dress Latin American men can be!  

    We were also treated to an appearance of  the famous Morelos chinelo dancers, who impressed me with their ability to keep dancing for hours under the weight and heat of a heavy costume. In fact, everyone's dancing ability was impressive - every single person here could get a job in the US teaching others how to move their hips.  My years of dancing here and there paid off, and I was able to hold my own on the dance floor, which basically means I didn't step on anyone's feet.