May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) is a national holiday in Mexico. Do you know why? In the year 1862, a French army of 6,000 men invaded Mexico led by General Laurencez. They fought because they owed money to France and could not pay it. General Ignacio Zaragoza faced these forces in the city of Puebla with only 4,000 poorly equipped men with very little training. General Zaragoza and his men defeated the French. That’s why each year their celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Posada
The Posada begins with the procession of the pilgrims. At the head is Joseph, holding Mary’s hand as she rides on the donkey. People dress up as Mary and Joseph and ride a burrito ( a small burro). A couple of neighbors carrying candles and singing traditional songs follow them and ask for Posada, a place to stay. At the end of the trip they go to their neighborhood which is their final destination. Doors open and a big party begins!!
The piñata is strung up and everyone gets ready to break it. The children are blindfolded so it is harder to break. When someone is going to break the piñata they all sing:
"Dale, dale, dale no pierdas el tino, porque silo
pierdes, pierdes el camino
uno, dos, tres"
Semana Santa
The passion play of Iztapalapa is one of the most popular and one of the most important religious celebrations in Mexico.
In just one day, more than a million visitors come to a small district to watch a 150-year-old tradition.During Easter week, each inhabitant abandons his normal life as a laborer, student, or housewife, and forgets his daily tensions and conflicts. All the townspeople come together with a common goal, and become actors representing Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Nazarenes, the guards, the Apostles, and the people of a town that existed thousands of years before. The entire community becomes the cast and the streets, the stage.
In recreating the passion and the death of Christ, not one person is a professional actor, but this doesn’t matter, the purpose is too offer all of one’s energy to God, observing the Catholic tradition as closely as possible, with suffering and courage, but above all, with a great of enthusiasm and love.
The Passion of Iztapalapa was first performed a long time ago,
in the year 1833, when a cholera epidemic laid the religion low and the majority
of the population died. Only a few people survived. The main reason for this
presentation is to give thanks to God for having saved the community so long
ago.
Day of the Dead celebration is not a sad affair. Rather it is a day to celebrate with the spirit of a dead friend or relative. The whole country becomes involved in religious and patriotic fiestas. The day’s activities consist of visits by families to the graves of their close kin. At the gravesites family members engage in sprucing up the gravesites, decorating it with flowers, setting out and enjoying a picnic, and socially interacting with other family and community members who gather at the cemetery.
