Today is México's Independence Day, 16 de Septiembre. Last night Josh and I headed to the main square to see hoards of people celebrating. Josh is sure to have better coverage of this on his blog in the coming days, as I left immediately after the fireworks because of continuing fever symptoms (which I thought had subsided). But I will offer a little sense of the scene... there were vendors everywhere, selling everything from noisemakers; glowing jewelry; fried pig skin; pretty-colored drinks in clear jars; face-painting supplies; sombreros; fake mustaches and beards...
At 11:00 the mayor of the city stepped out onto the balcony over the main square to lead the crowds in shouting "VIVA MÉXICO!" and then the fireworks shot off. Wow. The only downfall (aside from the fever), was a downpour of rain (which helped the fever, I am sure).
And onto today. We headed to the main square again, thinking we were going to see a parade (which had already ended). Instead we encountered an even more exciting event, the Vuelta a México; a professional bike race in México. In the center of the city the racers were supposed to do 18, 4km laps. Due to rain, this turned out to be more like 10 laps. Josh worked his way beyond the race barriers and in with the press and managed to get some wonderful shots, I am sure. It made me very happy to see him able to gain access to an event that he loves. Today made me miss my green racing bicycle. But the old Schwinn will due for now.
Josh photographing a Guatamalan rider
The winner for today
1 comment:
very cool! I bet Josh coulda been a contendah in there... even in his skateboard helmet :) love the sense of the crowd, and the photos!! xo
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