Cinco de Mayo

On Thursday, May 1, 2008 I attended a Cinco de Mayo celebration at Chico State.  The celebration was held at the Free Speech Area; it began at noon and lasted for about three hours.  Many people believe that Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican Independence day but it is not.  On the morning of May 5, 1862 over 4,000 Mexican soldiers defeated the French and traitor Mexican army of over 8,000 in Puebla, Mexico.  The French landed in Mexico five months before May and collected debts from Mexico’s president, Benito Juarez but the French they decided to stay in Mexico.  Napoleon III was the leader of the French army and he not only brought soldiers with him, he also brought a Hapsburg prince with the intention of having him take over and rule Mexico.

There were different organizations that had booths set up all around the Free Speech Area, some included; the multicultural fraternity Epsilon Sigma Rho, the multicultural sorority Lambda Theta Nu, the Mexico Lindo Ballet Folklorico dance team, the wellness center and many other organizations.  The booths had information about their organizations and they were also selling various types of food.  There was also mariachi music playing thought out the celebration.

My favorite part was when the ballet folklorico dance team came on stage and danced to mariachi music.  The dancers performed to two different songs; the first song was upbeat and lively and the dancers wore very colorful dresses.  The second dance had more of a slow, calm beat and the dancers wore white dresses.  Watching the performance made me want to get up and join them in their dance, they were that good!

Overall, I really enjoyed the celebration; it was very informative and fun.  Sometimes we celebrate days without really knowing the meaning behind it and Cinco de Mayo is one of those days.  It is a day to be celebrated but we should all know that the purpose behind the celebration is for the freedom and liberty of Mexico.