Cinco de Mayo

A friend of mine has dual citizenship in the U.S. and in Canada. This lucky dog gets to celebrate twice as many holidays as I do. He has 2 Thanksgiving feasts, although it takes me about a year to recover from just the one. The Canadians also have extra holidays like Boxing Day, Easter Monday and Canada Day. Just because my friend celebrates the Canadian holidays, does that make him a poor citizen of the United States of America? No, of course not. Especially when I get to celebrate with him.

Looking south instead of north today we see that it is the Cinco de Mayo, which is a big celebration in Mexican history. Some facts about Cinco de Mayo:

• It is NOT Mexican independence day. It is actually September 16.
• It celebrates the defeat of a larger, better equipped French army by a smaller army of Mexicans in the state of Puebla.
• During the American Civil War, Napoleon tried to invade Mexico and add it to his empire.
• The US helped out the Mexicans, once the Civil War was over.

What better excuse for a fiesta than to join in with the celebrations of our neighbor to the south. Some ways of celebration Cinco de Mayo include:

• Have Mexican food for dinner. Many Mexican restaurants celebrate this day.
• Go to a Cinco de Mayo festival in you r community.
• Play some Mexican games.
• Watch the Mask of Zorro. Ok, it doesn't really have anything to do with Cinco de Mayo, but it is still fun.
  

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!