My Best Cinco de Mayo Ever
Many of our family’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations were simply gatherings at a favorite Mexican restaurant with our sombrero’s, enjoying the magic of the day. But there is one over-the-top Cinco de Mayo party that is the benchmark in my mind. I had the most enjoyable time ever! This photo is my mom. She wears the Great Grandmother delight on her face.
LOS NOMBRES
The Names
One of the reasons this Fiesta was special is my mother, Shirley, was still alive - only on this day, her name was Juanita. In fact we all had Mexican names. We learned lots of Spanish words and tried to speak like we were from Mexico. My favorite pretend names were my two grandchildren’s.
Jaspir’s name was Juan.
Ada’s name was Bonita.
los juegos
The Games
Here’s little Bonita playing the “Mexican Jumping Bean” game while Great Grandma Juanita watches guardedly, expecting a tearful jumping injury any second. (Once a madre, always a madre).
But that was just the first of three dancing games. We also did Latin Freeze Dancing. When Granny stops the music you have to freeze. If you move, you are eliminated.
And, we had more dancing fun when Granny and Paw tried to teach us all how to Salsa.
The favorite game was “Juan Benito Says” which is just like “Simon Says,” but in Spanish. We worked up a great appetite. It was time to go to one of our favorite Mexican restaurant…
Paw drew this pepper for Granny’s scrapbook page. She cut it out and added the tag and fringe in Mexico’s colors.
La Comida
The Food
Children get restless in restaurants, so I brought crayons and coloring sheets of the flag of Mexico. While we waited for our food, the kids sat quietly in the cantina and each colored the flags - so creatively. “A round of Margaritas, Camarero!”
Burritos, tacos, pollo, enchiladas, chimichangas, nachos, carnitas, fajitas, huevos - and fried ice cream. Ole!
LA BATALLA DE PUEBLA
THE BATTLE OF PUEBLA
Even though Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican Heritage in the United States, we learned, in Mexico, it is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla. In 1862, the French were trying to take over Mexico. They were making their way to Mexico City through Puebla City.
The Mexican fighters were the people from the town and surrounding area. They were badly outnumbered and didn’t have the sophisticated weapons of the French army, but they fought fiercely and sent the French running.
It was a critical victory and showed all Mexicans what they could accomplish if they worked together and gave their all. It also demonstrated the strength of Mexico to the world. Other countries were shocked because they all expected France would run right over Mexico without more than a whimper. Surprise!
We reenacted the Battle of Puebla, playing the part of the Mexican townsfolk fighting against the invisible French army. We lined up and waited for the signal. Then we tore across the battlefield streaming the colors of our flag and yelling our war cry: “Viva Mexico!” It was a hard fought battle with invisible swords and guns. There was lots and lots of screaming.
All the other soldiers noticed how courageous Juan and Bonita were. They were positively fearless.
Finally the last, French soldier was defeated and all the Mexican folk returned back to the others in the town who were cheering their victory. For the young soldiers, this was their first battle. They were so happy they won.
We are proud to say Juan and Bonita fought bravely and were awarded toys for their courageous conduct.
Margarita (Maggie) also got a beautiful gift. Ethically, it was very extremely difficult for her to fight the French because many years earlier she had pledged her allegiance to France. For this brief afternoon, she set that aside and gave her allegiance to the people of Mexico and fought alongside her children. Now she loves France again. The people of Mexico gave her a gift to remember her sacrifice.
This is the veladoras she received. Prayer candles are burned to symbolize good faith, grace, and wisdom. By the frequency of the fractures in her lower extremities, we know she’s not graceful. Two out of three will have to do.
LA PINATA
THE Pinata
We also celebrated our victory with a piñata. Pedro (Paw) tied this candy-filled orb on a tree branch in the backyard. Everyone took turns whacking and whacking. We thought Juan was going to knock the tree over. Finally he knocked it from the tree - but the piñata didn’t break.
Next, we all took turns whacking the piñata while it lay on the ground while Jaunita watched from the back porch and yelled encouragement. No one could break it open.
Margarita, still high from her award from the Mexican people stepped in. She announced she would defeat the piñata. All the children stood by watching as she whacked and whacked that ball to death. She grunted and yelled and did some fancy black belt moves and . . .
The piñata finally split and spilled its guts. Juan had most of it in his bag before the others even got a single piece.
There was quite the scramble to fetch all the goodies that were still left. Each child had a bag with their Spanish name on it so there would be no arguments later about whose was whose. Unfortunately, somehow Bonita and Juan’s were mixed up. (uh oh)
El Final
The Finale
We were all feeling a little tuckered out, so we had cocktails, a few more treats and desserts, and opened gifts of appreciation from the Mexican government. It was a wonderful day and we lived happily ever after.