Dress up time for the patriotic spirit. Those are the nietos (grandchildren) of our house mom. Isaac - 5, Elisa - 6mo

Zocolo lit up the night before Noche Mexicana

The national cathedral

Preparations for Noche Mexicana

Independence Day!!! Well it was nearly a week ago now, but it is just now that we've gotten to share. Above are pictures I (Kevin) took from the Zocolo the night before Noche Mexicana. Some pictures in the day were taken before that even as they were setting up for Noche Mexicana. Independence Day is a very big deal for Mexicans, more so than the 4th. Each delegation gives what is called a grito, which they yell out things like Viva Mexico and the crowd chants Viva in response.

Zocolo is the center of the city and a great historical district with the government place and a large cathedral. It is beautiful. This year we were advised to steer clear of Zocolo for the celebration because of the political tensions. Traditionally the president gives the grito at Zocolo, but due to a very tight election, parties are deadlocked in competition. So to resolve the matter they had multiple gritos at the Zocolo. We went the night before to check out all the lights.

As for the actual night we joined our family at their church for a fiesta and then went to a delegation named Coyoacan, an artist and historic delegation, for the grito there. This was much less potent for political drama. It was fun, and then we listened to a concert until about 1:00 am.

Noche Mexicana was fun!