12.2 El Grito
El Grito
It is Mexican Independence day again! The day for El Grito!, or ?The Shout!? This means that, to celebrate the 15th of September, people gather in the city square, the zocalo, and around Midnight the mayor comes to the balcony and leads The Shout.
Viva Mexico! Viva Independencia! Viva Fray Hildalgo! Viva Morelos!
Of course, viva is ?long live, and Independencia is obvious. Fray Hildalgo is the guy who first gave the cry and started the independence movement. He had added one other line, not shouted out these days, which was Mata los gapuchines, which means Death to the Spur-wearers. This last is often changed in guidebooks to be "Death to the Spaniards" who, if your history is bad, were the colonial owners of New Spain, as it was called.
Well, of course the good Fray was captured and hung, and Senor Morelos took over the revolution. He was the real revolutionary and worked for total independence, where Fray had actually only wanted better conditions for the colony. And of course, Morelos was also captured and killed, as were a whole succession of others too, and a lot of Spaniards, until liberation was achieved.
We had been invited to party that night by our Spanish teachers. They told me, ?It starts at 9:00, Mexican time.?
?OK,? I replied.
?Mexican time,,? they repeated.
?Ah, 10:00 for men, then.?
?Si, si,? they laughed.
Fine by us, since Suzanne had classes until 9:00 anyway. So on that night I walked half way to school to meet her. We went to the llano, which is the park near to our house. It had been all tricked up for the holiday with kid rides and a plethora of food booths. We have been eating there every night since it is good food and really cheap. Cheap means a taco for 4 pesos, and I usually eat five or six which means dinner for US$2 or so. We also have been eating garnaches, which is a food particular to the Istmo. They are tiny little tortilla, maybe the size of my palm, fried crisp and with meat, cheese and a preserved cabbage on top. Six for 20 pesos. Delicious.
Interestingly, when we were first cruising the llano we recognized a lot of the stands, and in fact, the couple working one particular taco booth recognized us! Well they should, since last holiday we ate there every night. As we did this time. Their cencina enchilada tacos are heaven. That is, a kind of pork with enchilada sauce, onions, guacamole and salsa.
So we ate, got home and changed. We stooged around a little bit because, well, it was on Mexican time. Finally I got out the little map las maestras had given me and we set off. And got lost.
Hey, this was supposed to be easy! It was at, or near to, a place where we had gone (with Dale) on a school trip to see how tortillas are made. So we went back and started again, took a different turn and seemed to be on the right street. Well, we weren?t sure though, because we had also driven past the place when we exited the tortilla day, and it was also night so things looked different. But I picked up my directional sense and navigated us right to the place! Great!
Next, though, we had to find the address. We went to where the tortilla event had been and peered through the gates. Nope, can?t be there. There were only a handful of people at a table. So we went on, and to our astonishment found another fair, much like the llano.
Now, Oaxaca is a city of about 250,00 people. It is divided into neighborhoods, called colonia. These colonia used to be separate settlements, separate towns. This is a fact we know, but it is easy to forget. One result is that every colonia has similar street names. As a result in Oaxaca there are many Calle Indepenc ia, Cinco de Mayo, Hildalgo, Morelos, Revolution, and so on and so on. That is why our address has to have Colonia Centro on it, since we live in the Centro district, which as the original own of Oaxaca before it gobbled up all its neighbors.
Another result is that there are many little plazas. Only the main own is properly a zocalo, but nonetheless there are a lot of churches with a plaza.
And here was another one, with a fair going on! Crowded! Many food stands, a merry go round with home made animals, and in the plaza, a guy giving a long speech. Probably, I figured, the lead-in to El Grito.
We went back to find our party. I asked a guy where the street was that we sought, and he pointed our way to it. We wandered around until we found the address, rang the bell and got no answer. Finally, a woman selling tamales out of a doorway took us through there and we were there! And in fact, it was the table full of people!
Mexican time? Maybe that plus! Our hostess asked us if we had been lost.
Well, we sat down and they gave us tamales. Woah, we had just eaten! But we ate them anyway. And of course, this being Oaxaca, some mezcal. We chatted with the other guests, the teachers? families, some other students. Nice time. We were going to go to the plaza when it was El Grito time, but we missed it and were late. Nice fireworks, though only a few. But the party was more fun anyway.
After a little while it was late, after midnight after all, so we offered everyone a ride home and with hanks all around, we left, took them home, and got to bed really late. Much later than we were used to.
But happy.
Viva Mexico!