Saturday night, which I just haven't had time to post about, was Mexican Independence Day. I went, along with 70,000 other people, to the center of town to watch "el Grito" Spanish for "the shout". This is a tradition in which the Governor comes out on the balcony of the Governor's mansion and shouts "Viva Mexico" five times in honor of their Independence. Well, I'm not going to lie, it was quite the experience seeing all of these people united by this one event. It caused me to think about our Independence Day celebrations in the US...where we usually have small gatherings of family and friends, maybe some fireworks, and then we all go home. It's a fun day. Really it is. But I realized this weekend that Americans celebrate the present America on July 4th. We celebrate where our country is now, what is going on at this moment. I love our country and our traditions, but I feel that because we tend to celebrate the present, someone who may not agree with current policies or leadership feels less of a desire to celebrate the current position of our country. I would never call anyone unpatriotic, but you know where I'm coming from. And of course, this is America and that is their freedom. But Mexicans celebrate the past. For one day, ok for a full month, they put aside all of their nations problems (which is a lot to do) and remember the fight against Spain. They remember the first time a leader of their country stood up in front of a crowd and shouted "Viva Mexico." They remember what it was like to not be Independent, and the pride that now exists. It brought chills to my spine listening as 70,000 people crammed into a square block, all shouted "VIVA!" Kinda cool. I guess I would just really love to see someone dressed like Paul Revere riding down the street in every major American city shouting "The British are Coming, The British are Coming!!!" I think that could do a little something to unite us.