the real cinco de mayo
many of you are laboring under the misconception that cinco de mayo is a celebration of mexico's independence day. like i said, misconception. not true. you conceived it wrongly. i'd like to set the record straight.
back in 1861, the mexican people owed a lot of money to the french. they decided to stop paying when their granperros started disappearing. granperros are a breed of dog that is extinct today, largely due to the french and mexican war. i call the granperro a dog, because that is the best description, but in actuality it was almost a horse. it was more canine in feature but equine in behavior; the largest of los granperros actually allowed some humans to ride them, but this was rare. the mexican people viewed these animals as part of the family--more so than people who think of dogs as their children today. these animals had places at the table, beds, and were truly members of the family. one man named don martinez had a particularly large granperro, benito. he lived in pueblo, mexico. benito disappeared one day. martinez assumed him to be dead, eaten by a larger predator, and was heartbroken. he spent days searching him out, even if just for a piece to bury in the family cemetery, but could find nothing.
as the french invaded mexico, rumors came that they were using granperros in their attack. their teeth were strong and sharp and they could cause great damage to those they crossed. the french army was strong, and hadn't been defeated in more than 50 years, but when word came that they were using their own family against them, the men in pueblo vowed to defeat them. as the invading forces came, the mexicans sent scouts to find out how many french there were. one of these scouts was don martinez. as martinez crept upon the french encampment, he instantly recognized benito, tied to a tree. martinez quickly untied benito, and climbed on his back. they rode quickly away to warn the mexican army that they were outnumbered and had been stealing granperros from their families. the army was riled up, they were mad. the next day, may 5, 1861, the french invaded pueblo. but they didn't get far; the men fought for their families, for their children, and for their granperros. the french were defeated for the first time in 50 years and slunk away in defeat. don martinez and benito were labeled national heroes and the granperros were returned to their rightful owners.
and if you believe that, i've got some oceanfront property in arizona that i'd like to sell you.
you can read the real story of cinco de mayo here.
my menu for dinner tonight consists of:
- p-dub spicy mac 'n' cheese
- tacos with homemade shells
- (virgin) pina coladas
--emily
6 comments:
let's see...i ate two corn dogs for lunch {perhaps a distant relative of the granperros}?
we've never really celebrated cinco de mayo. i think the best we've ever done is go to mexican restaurant for dinner.
apparently they don't even celebrate it in Mexico, it's just another excuse to drink (like St. Patrick's day)...but it's kinda fun to have a theme-dinner at least.
The first story is quite imaginative! The real story is more accurate. Actually, the major reason the Pueblans were able to defeat the French is because the French troops were incapacitated with diarrhea during the battle. The re-captured the city about 9 months later. And Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the US. I heard nothing about it yesterday here in Mexico City. I think they only celebrate it in Puebla.
i heard the real story is that there was a huge shipment of mayonnaise on the titanic headed for mexico and when the titanic sank they called it "sinko de mayo"
-gym
Oh man, glad that was fake because I stopped reading half way through thinking it was so ridiculous. ;D
We had Cafe Rio.
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