So, many of you have probably heard about cinco de mayo before, but do you truly know what the holiday celebrates?
So, here's a short true and false quiz to test your knowledge of cinco de mayo.
1. Cinco de mayo is equivalent to the United States' Fourth of July. T/F
2. Cinco de mayo is a widespread, major holiday that is celebrated all throughout Mexico. T/F
3. Cinco de mayo commemorates a the defeat of one battle against Spain in 1862. T/F
As I said, it was a short quiz. So, are you curious about your results? The truth is, every one of the answers to those questions are 'false'. That may be surprising to some of you, but don't feel bad. Until I took Spanish class at school, I didn't know much about cinco de mayo either.
There are two main common misconceptions about cinco de mayo that people have. One is that it celebrates Mexico's Independence day, and the other is that cinco de mayo is a major holiday in Mexico. Mexico's Independence day is actually September 16, 1810. Mexico gained independence from the Spanish on this day after rallying under the leadership of Father Miguel Hidalgo. Cinco de mayo actually originated 52 years after Mexico gained independence from Spain.
The story goes that the French army had come into Mexico to collect debt that Mexico owed to France. This day celebrates the Mexican victory in one battle in that war, the Battle of Puebla. Puebla is an area in southern Mexico. This was a day of great glory for Mexico and thus came the celebration of cinco de mayo. Cinco de mayo, though, is not commonly celebrated in areas outside of Puebla in Mexico. People here in the United States celebrate the day more than people in Mexico; here, the day is more of a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture than commemoration of the victory in Puebla.
There are many ways that people celebrate cinco de mayo. Yesterday, my Spanish class and I had a fiesta - or party - to honor the day. We brought in homemade salsas, homemade guacamole and homemade totopos, or chips, to eat and Jarritos - a Mexican soda made with natural sugar - to drink. While listening to music and watching a short clip about how people were going to celebrate cinco de mayo, we enjoyed our snacks. After eating, my teacher took out his guitar and called up a trumpet player and violin player to play a song that we had to sing to. In other words, we had our own little mariachi band as we sang "De Colores." Finally, to end he day, my teacher passed out washable stick-on tattoos of the Mexican flag for us to wear.
This here is my flag tattoo that I got and put on my arm. It's a bit hard to see, but it was the best I could do at the moment.
So, my cinco de mayo was fun, and I hope you learned a little something about this celebration!
Happy Easter!
~Emily Silverwing
That does sound like fun! So do Mexicans celebrate Independence Day?
ReplyDeleteIn a way, yes, Mexicans do celebrate Indpendence Day. Their Independence Day is September 16th. This is when they were liberated from Spanish rule. Today, people in Mexico celebrate September 16th in many ways. At midnight on the morning of the 16th, Mexico's president (currently Enrique Peña Nieto) rings a bell in Mexico City's large main plaza called El Zócolo and then goes out onto the balconey in front of a large crowd of people and says a speech called the Grito de Delores. At the end, he shouts, "Vive Mexico" and the crowd responds in the same way. Other ways the day is celebrated is by having a bunch of food, hanging out with family and friends and putting the Mexico flag up.
ReplyDelete