"Cinco de Mayo is an important day. The Mexicans had to defend themselves from the French. It is historically important, but it is not Mexican Independence Day"
--- Kuno Becker (Mexican actor and film director)
I would feel ashamed if I didn't educate you a bit on Mexico itself. After all, Mexico is America's neighbor. Before I lived there, I knew exceptionally little about Mexico. Like most Americans I suppose, I knew of the general history like the Maya and Aztec, and of the other touristy things and places, but I never spent much time learning specifically about its more contemporary history and how it came to be. Now, I'm still far from being an expert on Mexico or its history, but I can appreciate it. As a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I'll admit that most of my time in those two years was teaching the gospel, not studying Mexican history. But after the Mission, I took several semesters of Spanish courses in college where I learned to further appreciate not only the politics of Mexico, but also the art, the literature, the music, and the theatre produced. Mexican culture is beautiful and lively and I think it deserves center stage here.
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MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE
Mexico declared independence from Spain on September 27, 1821, but the battle for independence lasted over a decade officially starting on September 16, 1810. Like all Independence Days, it's a time of national pride which means partying with good food and loud music.
However, the night before September 16th is equally celebrated by something called “Noche de Gritos” (Night of shouts). "El Grito" is a tradition commemorating what is called the “Grito de Dolores” or “Yell of Dolores” which is in reference to the call to arms by Miguel Hidalgo, against corrupt Spanish control marking the start of the Mexican War of Independence. “Dolores” is a town in the state of Guanajuato, which is practically dead center of the country, where the call was pronounced. Spain first seized control of Mexico in the 1500s when Hernán Cortéz toppled the Aztec Empire. The Grito de Dolores occurred in 1810 around the time Napoleon occupied Spain which inspired many to revolt across Spanish America. Miguel Hidalgo was not successful in capturing the capital. He was a priest, not a military man, and neither was his amateur militia trained nor adequately armed. He was captured and executed; however, he is still considered to be the Father of Mexican Independence. It took ten years for Mexico (previously called “New Spain”) to successfully gain independence in 1821 and later become its own country on October 4, 1824.
THE UNITED STATES OF MEXICO
There is some controversy concerning the origin of the name “Mexico”, but it probably comes from the Aztecs, also called the Mexica (Meh-shee-kah). Mexico is a federation of 32 states which is why its official name is “The United States of Mexico”, a fact that few Americans know. In general, Mexicans don’t like Americans saying they’re from the United States because they're also technically from the United States (of Mexico). There is still an ongoing debate about changing the official name to just “Mexico” as most people believe it to be.
About 1200 A.D, nomadic peoples entered the Valley of Mexico. They eventually split into different groups, one of them being the Mexica. It is said that they were searching for a sign that one of their main gods, the god of the sun and war, Huitzilopochtli, had given. The Mexica prophesy was to look for "an eagle with a snake in its beak, perched on a prickly pear cactus." The eagle was the god's nagual, or "animal disguise". Wherever they saw that was where they were meant to settle. They stumbled upon Lake Texcoco, where they saw an eagle with a snake in its beak as the prophecy said. There was an island on the lake. There they took refuge, naming it Tenochtitlan in 1325 which covered between three to five square miles of swampy ground. Today it is called Mexico City. That’s why the Mexican Flag looks like it does.
The Mexican flag that we are most familiar with was adopted in 1968 although the country has been through nearly a dozen designs since its independence nearly 200 years ago; many of them bearing a general resemblance to the others. The green represents hope, the white represents purity, and the red represents religion.
THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION
A hundred years after the Mexican War of Independence, now 1910, Porfirio Diaz who was the President of Mexico was surpassing thirty long years of dictatorial control. Francisco Madero led the charge against him and ultimately won with the help of Pancho Villa. This overthrowing of Porfirio Diaz is referred to as the Mexican Revolution, not to be confused with the Mexican War of Independence.
The holiday “Cinco de Mayo” has nothing to do with independence day like some mistake it to be, as a matter of fact, it’s not a highly celebrated holiday in Mexico! The 5th of May celebrates the 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). That’s it. I believe Americans only use it as an excuse to sell more Tacos and feel more cultured than they actually are.
OUR COMEDY SKETCH
You'll recall that my group of guys, including Elder Brogan, arrived in Mexico the previous year on September 15, 2014. The story that I shared of that day, "The First Mission Home" actually took place on "Noche de Gritos", little did I know it then. So, one year later, this was our first real chance to acknowledge it and commemorate it. Even if we would have known the first time around, we wouldn't have appreciated Mexico like we did a year later.
We missionaries were cautioned about the drunk people the night before September 16th, la Noche de Gritos. Supposedly, as tradition, some intoxicated men were known to fire guns into the air like celebratory cannons. Imagine the impending danger or death as gravity pulled them back to earth with equal velocity. There was no knowing where they would land, piercing through roofs or cars, or anything else. We heard stories. Fortunately for us, I don't remember having to put up with that in the neighborhoods where we lived and it didn’t seem as common as everyone scared us into believing. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Our Ward had a festive celebration at the chapel building on Friday, September 18, 2015. Besides good food, music, and mingling, we had another talent show (See "Hear the Music, Try the Dance"). We worked with our Ward Mission Leader slash Ward Pianist, Hermano Carrillo, to prepare a skit. We went to his house to brainstorm. I was never a theatre buff but I remembered the comedy sketch group turned television show on BYUtv “Studio C” and a skit they did a few times called “Shoulder Angel”. They had their smallest guy dress up as an angel and sit on someone's shoulder. I thought it would have been hilarious to reenact but the others didn’t buy it. Nevertheless, I got a photo of me perched on Elder Urias’ shoulder just for the kicks of it. Ultimately, I’m glad we didn’t choose that idea. I’m lucky he didn’t drop me, not because I was heavy (because I wasn’t), but because of my new high center of gravity. Even if my eye level was ten feet off the ground, my feet were only about 3 feet off the ground which makes for a minor landing. But I still felt too high for comfort.
Instead, we decided on a comedy sketch that we largely improvised in the moment of the performance. It turned out beautifully. Our awkwardness made it even funnier. Videos of the sketch, in part, are seen below. More is written below the videos.
The sketch goes like this: Elder Brogan and I are naive Americans invited to a Mexican Independence Day party (Which wasn’t too much of a stretch). We don’t know what to expect so we put on sombreros and fake mustaches and go to the party. At the party, Hermano Carrillo and Elder Urias are eating (imaginary) pozole (a corn and chickpea soup) in normal clothes. They're speechless to see us dressed up like that. They invite us to eat with them but Elder Brogan says the pozole looks like cow teeth, so they offer us jalapeños instead. We pretend that we don’t know what they are and they convince us that they’re sweet pickles. Elder Brogan takes a huge bite down to the stem and about dies. It was Elder Brogan’s idea and he insisted they be the biggest ones we could find. The whole Ward is laughing their heads off! Elder Urias tries to get me to eat one but that wasn't part of the sketch. Throughout the sketch Elder Brogan’s fake mustache kept falling off which made it even funnier. He drinks lemonade but it doesn’t help. When he goes in for one last sip, his mustache accidentally falls into his lemonade. At this point, he gives up and leaves it! The room was loud with laughter; I couldn't keep a straight face! Then Hermano Carrillo and Elder Urias mention the Noche de Gritos and we both start yelling like lunatics at the top of our lungs as the curtains close.
It was so much fun and just like Elder Martinez’s karaoke performance in Monterreal, our relationship with the Ward grew all the more personal (See "Intercambios"); because we left our comfort zone to make them laugh. They saw got to see a different side of us. We even had a few of the members come up to us afterward commenting how strange it was to see us in regular clothes; I don’t blame them. We were the first performance of the night and it set the tone for the rest of the evening’s entertainment. Sometimes it’s good to not take yourself too seriously.
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