El Grito

On the evening of the trip to La Rumorosa we didn't return to the church until about 6:30 or 7:00. I had planned on going to the Independence Day celebration, "El Grito," in the center of town that night at about 8:00 with a friend and her family. However, I was very tired, sun burnt, and dirty (not to mention smelly...) from spending the day in the dusty outdoors. I considered just going home and calling it a night, but as I left the church parking lot and made my way home I saw a vendor with his rack full of cotton candy heading toward the town center. This reminded me of one of the best nights I had in Mexico on December 27th, 2006. I was in the "Zocalo" (Town Center or Town Plaza) of Mexico City with friends, the holiday celebrations were still happening, and we had a magical evening (I know that sounds corny) involving cotton candy (one of those you had to be there moments...).



So, I decided I had to go to the celebration that night regardless of how tired I was so I could enjoy to the fullest extent all of my time living in Mexico. I headed home to, at least, take a shower so I wouldn't be so smelly and dirty, but I only had enough time to talk to everyone and invite my neighbor to come with us. We had a great time. There were lots of fireworks or "cohetes," food, and shouting or "gritos." The fireworks were great! Some of them were different than I'd ever seen before. There was one that would spin like a pinwheel and shoot off rockets. Those would continue for 5 or 10 minutes to the tune of everyone yelling and shouting.