Bicentenial Week in Mexico's 'Cradle of Independence' - September 16th, 2010

Independence Day

I really wanted to see some of the other historically significant cities in that region, ones that my schedule did not permit earlier. For the evening of the 15th, the giving of the Grito at 11pm was probably the high point of one's experience for the 2010 celebration. Unbeknown at the time by and luckily for me, that was not the only one and much more was yet to come. I had to serendipitously stumble upon the rest of the fun and it proved a wonderful trip. First on my list was Delores Hidalgo, so-named for its famous one-time resident who began in 1810 what was being celebrated that day.

As a citizen of the 'great state' of Arizona...

On this Fourth of July, as I sit in a city deep in central Mexico, I wish that I were only thinking of my country and how proud I am of its many accomplishments and how it has played a significant role in the changing of world history to end tyranny, and much more. Instead, I find myself in a different frame of mind that I had hoped would have ended in January, 2008. Alas, I was wrong.

While I usually try to keep this blog light and entertaining, this instance hangs on me like piece of toilet paper stuck on the bottom of my shoe. As an Arizona resident, I am ashamed of the current direction our politics have taken. When traveling through Mexico I have to hide my AZ driver's license, which I once was proud to display. Arizona is a unique state in the union that hosts a very high percentage of Mexican heritage, which of course poses its own unique challenges also, one being immigration to and through the state facilitated by that population sympathetic to those who would be willing to make the risky journey.