It was a night to shout, and I did my best, shouting until I was hoarse. My friend Ale and her husband Ulisses invited to Guaymas Municipal Palace for a celebration of the Bicentennial of Mexico's movement for independence from Spain.
The war for independence was launched at 6AM September 16, 1810 by Father Miguel Hidalgo in front of his church in Dolores. Mexicans still celebrate the that initial call to arms every year by gathering in their hometown's central square, where the mayor or highest ranking officeholder in town stands in front of their equivalent of city hall and shouts, as Hidalgo did, the words that stirred the people and sparked the war for independence. The Spanish word for "shout" or "scream" is gritar, and the reenactment is called El Grito. But we don't get up at 6AM for El Grito anymore because when Porfirio Diáz was president, he moved the celebration back a day, to coincide with his birthday and maybe because he was a night owl instead of an early bird. (Thanks to Mexico Bob for that tidbit).
What Hidalgo said (translated into English) was:
My children: a new dispensation comes to us today. Will you receive it? Will you free yourselves? Will you recover the lands stolen three hundred years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards? We must act at once… Will you defend your religion and your rights as true patriots? Long live our Lady of Guadalupe! Death to bad government! Death to the gachupines (Spaniards)"Then he shouted something along the lines of "Viva la México!" The revised Bicentennial version of that shout goes like this:
- Mexicans!
- Long Live the Heroes that gave us our Fatherland!
- Long Live Hidalgo!
- Long Live Morelos!
- Long Live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!
- Long Live Allende!
- Long Live Aldama and Matamoros!
- Long Live National Independence!
- Long Live the Independence Bicentennial!
- Long Live the Centennial of the Revolution!
- Long Live Mexico!
- Long Live Mexico!
- Long Live Mexico!
As part of his traditional duties last night, the mayor of Guaymas, in addition to doing the shouting, had the job of ringing a large brass bell and waving a large Mexican flag, which requires quite a bit of coordination, Ale confided.
Everywhere I looked were tiny niñas in red, white and green dresses, their hair done up in braids with ribbons, or sporting little sombreros. When the mayor had finished his performance the crowd began singing the national anthem, and even Ale (who knew several stanzas by heart) was surprised how long the song was. Just about everybody had to wait through the verses and then chime in on the chorus.
I set myself a challenge of improving my night photography, easy enough when I shot stationary objects, like the Municipal Palace, not so easy when I photographed the excellent mariachi band that warmed up the crowd.
My Olympus has a setting for capturing fireworks, so I was able to get a reasonable shot of the castillo (a framework for a series of fireworks) which at its climax spelled out "Guaymas" and included a portrait of Hidalgo. The portrait was rough, but how much detail can you expect with incendiary devices?
