It’s been another amazing week of firsts in Zaconogo and we are truly enjoying life here! The highlight of this week was celebrating the “Aniversario del inicio de la Revolucion Mexican, en 1910” or the anniversary of the day of the Mexican Revolution. For those of you interested in the history of this day, I’m sorry, I can’t provide much in the way of an historical explanation. This is sad for someone who appreciates knowing the history of days such as these. The significance of this day was explained to me be one of my Spanish teachers in Cuernavaca; however, the explanation was in Spanish, of course, and I think I absorbed about 20% of it at best. I badly need to invest in a good English book on the history of Mexico. However, I can direct you to google where I am sure you’ll find ample information on the topic.
What I can tell you about is how the holiday was celebrated here in Zacongo and how much we enjoyed being a part of it all. It started out at the school where the kids gathered in their revolutionary costumes. For the girls this meant traditional skirts, hairdos, and babies (dolls) on their backs; while the machete and pistol wielding boys were dressed in cream coloured pants and button up shirts with “bigotes” (moustaches) painted on their faces. The purpose of gathering first at the school was to assemble for a parade through town. What resulted from the gathering was a mini-revolution all of it’s own with the boys running around shooting at one another. In all, not a very MCC friendly event but our kids were right in there and had a complete blast! Ziko even got his own bigote painted on his face and Hizee enjoyed being doted on (as usual) by the young revolutionary “mothers.” Zam was right in there with the young pistol wielding boys , and it was this event that has made Zam contemplate going to school here in Zacongo sooner rather than later (he’s home schooling right now).
Eventually mini-revolution came to an end and the parade through town commenced after which there was a short program at the basketball court (cancha) in the center of the village (right across from our house). The program was followed by LOTS of food, music and dancing. Zam, Hizee, and Ziko ran around in circles and danced with their friends, under the stars – it was beautiful to see! At the risk of totally romanticizing the whole event, I must say that this evening was much like a dream – one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself to know if it’s really happening.