Mexican Independence Day

On Wednesday, September 16th, Mexico will celebrate its Independence Day.

 You may be thinking already, “I thought Cinco de Mayo was Mexico’s independence day!”  If you are, you’re not alone; many people mistakenly believe Cinco de Mayo, or “the fifth of May,” is the day Mexico won its independence.  This error makes sense; the name of the holiday makes us think of our Independence Day on the Fourth of July, and Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in many ways that we would associate with independence: fireworks, parades and food.

However, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s independence day, but instead celebrates the anniversary of a famous battle between the Mexicans and the French.  Stay tuned for more about that in May…

Back to Independence Day, however, and the festivities that takeplace in Mexico.  Throughout the country, Mexicans celebrate by gathering in town squares, decorating with red, white and green (the colors of the Mexican flag), eating delicious pozole and chiles en nogada, a festive dish that is also red, white and green.

Every year on the evening of September 15th, the event is celebrated with the president of Mexico appearing before a crowd to recite el Grito de Dolores (“the cry of Dolores), a speech loosely based on another speech made by Miguel Hidalgo from a church in the town of Dolores in 1810.  Hidalgo’s proclamation of Mexico’s right to be free is traditionally considered to have significance similar to that of our Declaration of Independence. While no one knows the exact words Hidalgo said on that day in 1810, the speech recited to this day shares the same spirit: the message that Mexico should be free.

Below is the Grito de Dolores as it exists today, which lists famous Mexican heroes.

¡Mexicanos!

¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron patria!

¡Víva Hidalgo!

¡Viva Morelos!

¡Viva Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez!

¡Viva Allende!

¡Vivan Aldama y Matamoros!

¡Viva la independencia nacional!

¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!

Mexicans!

Long live the heroes that gave us the Fatherland!

Long live Hidalgo!

Long live Morelos!

Long live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!

Long live Allende!

Long live Galena and the Bravos!

Long live Aldama and Matamoros!

Long live National Independence!

Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico!

Saint Jordi’s Day 2015

St. Jordi Book Stand

Photo credit: Generalitat de Catalunya

Yesterday, 8th grade read about St. Jordi’s Day, which is celebrated in Catalunya on April 23rd (see the post below).  This holiday is similar to Valentines Day in that it is celebrated by couples.  However, instead of exchanging chocolate and cards, couples in Spain exchange roses and books.  See the links below to see how Spaniards celebrated Saint Jordi’s Day this year.

The soccer team FC Barcelona  celebrated by distributing roses and books about the team to fans at the famous Camp Nou stadium.

The Catalan New Agency reported on the bestselling books this Jordi’s Day.  Notice that the titles are in Catalán, which is similar to Spanish.  Can you figure out what the titles mean?

“Jordi” is Catalán for “George,” and this holiday to St. George is celebrated in various ways throughout the world on April 23rd.  This article details not only how it is celebrated in Spain, but other countries, as well.

St. Jordi Day

Otro día amoroso: el Día de San Jordi

El Día de San Valentín es un día de fiesta muy popular en varias regiones del mundo.  Los novios1 y amigos se regalan flores, chocolates, y tarjetas.2  En los Estados Unidos, muchas personas celebran con una cita3 especial en un restaurante o el cine.

 Sin embargo, hay otro día festivo para los novios.  En España, en el 23 de abril, se celebra el Día de San Jordi.  Es un día romántico pero literario.  En vez de4 chocolates y tarjetas, los novios se regalan libros y rosas.  Tradicionalmente, los hombre les dan rosas a las mujeres, y las mujeres les dan libros a los hombres.  Hoy, las reglas no son tan estrictas; hombres y mujeres reciben los libros.

Source: barnacentre.es

En Barcelona, el Día de San Jordi es un día bonito.  Puedes caminar por las calles con tu novio o novia, mirando la gente y los vendedores de libros.  Como es la primavera y hace calor, es un buen día para dar un paseo al aire libre.  Hay muchos eventos en las librerías, también, con lecturas5 y firmas6 por autores famosos.

Barcelona street on St. Jordi’s Day
Source: demotix.com

Pero, ¿por qué libros, y no chocolates?  En el 23 de abril, murieron7 dos escritores importantes: Miguel de Cervantes, un escritor español quien escribió Don Quijote, y William Shakespeare.  Por eso, el día celebra el amor y la escritura.  Es un día importante para la economía, también: ¡se venden 400,000 libros y 4 millones de rosas en un día!

Source: flickr.com

1 boyfriends and girlfriends

2 cards

3 date

4 Instead of

5 readings

6 signings

7 died (ellos form)

 Additional readings en inglés:

ireport on CNN

Donquijote.org

¡Feliz Día de los Reyes Magos!

20150106_125015

Zapatos de LCS. The Three Kings have already visited. Everyone has been good, so there’s no carbón dulce here!

In many countries around the world, January 6th is a day on which people celebrate the arrival of the wise men in the biblical Nativity story.  On the night of January 5th, boys and girls in Spain and Latin America leave their shoes out.  The next morning, good children find small gifts, candy and nuts in their shoes (similar to the tradition of hanging stockings popular in the United States).  Children who have misbehaved sometimes receive carbón dulce, a hard candy that is dyed black to look like coal!

¡Feliz Día de los Reyes Magos!

Shoes outside the classroom

Shoes outside the classroom

Yesterday in class we celebrated “El Día de los Reyes” (Three Kings’ Day).  In many countries around the world, January 6th is a day on which people celebrate the arrival of the wise men in the biblical Nativity story.  On the night of January 5th, boys and girls in Spain and Latin America leave their shoes out.  The next morning, good children find small gifts, candy and nuts in their shoes (similar to the tradition of hanging stockings popular in the United States).  Children who have misbehaved sometimes receive carbón dulce, a hard candy that is dyed black to look like coal!  Don’t worry, no one at LCS received carbón dulce this year 😉

Here is a story about the popularity of Three Kings’ Day (in English): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/three-kings-day-tradition_n_4548599.html