Today, on this fifth day in May, I decided to celebrate the commemoration of an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Despite the common misconception, this day is not Mexico's Independence day, that is September 16. Apparently even though the Mexican army was victorious over the French that day, the French occupied Mexico one year later. This holiday has been celebrated in the United States since 1863 but is virtually ignored in Mexico, celebrated only regionally in Puebla, of course. There is your history lesson for the day.
So today for the first time I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a margarita, chips, salsa, and guacamole at Juan's Flying Burrito here in New Orleans. For whatever reason I have never celebrated this holiday, aside from Spanish class in 8th grade, so today all that was missing was a sombrero. I will save that for September 16.
The Battle of Puebla
2 comments:
I plan to have an actual Mexican (and Centroamerica) Independence Day party in September! Glad to know that someone out there understands that this is not really a Mexican holiday, even though it's a great excuse for a margarita.
(This is a consequence of too much Mexico/Centro history specialization in college. It comes out every once in awhile).
is juan's on magazine street? I had the best salsa ever and lunch there years ago! still remember it!
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