El Grito de Dolores-Theatrical Experience

For Mexico's Independence Day on the 16th of September, 2011, Gloria and I went to Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Guanajuato is a unique experience, given that this small city is kept small due to its very European city planning (small roads, small intersecting alleys between houses). The old city charm is maintained which makes Guanajuato a "must-see" when someone visits Mexico. I went mostly because it was the 1 out of 2 weekends that the Tec de Monterrey lets us have a Friday or a Monday off. This time it was a Friday. Ibarguengoitia, who I'm researching, has his remains in Guanajuato, inside the Parque Florencio Antillon, located right next to the Presa de la Olla. We absolutely enjoyed our experience in this charming city.
Let me fill you in on a Mexican tradition that dates back to 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a father in the Catholic Church, initiated the uprising that would eventually fail in its immediate outcome but would spark the fire for insurgency among crioles and natives of Mexican and Central American territory. Just look at the dates of independence for the latin american countries in these regions: Guatemala-1821, El Salvador-1821, and Panama-1821, just to name a few that seceeded from Spain's monarchical rule. Hidalgo plays a very important role in Mexican history, being named the "El Padre de la Patria," (Father of the Homeland).

History tells us that after the October Revolution was found out by a series of betrayals, Hidalgo felt the need to push his insurgency to rise in September. He went into the church in Dolores Hidalgo and rallied the community together to begin the insurgency. He then went to Atotonilco and took down a picture of the Virgin and put it on a staff (much like Moroni's "Title of Libery"-see Book of Mormon) and gave historic shouts. What he actually said is not known today, but according to The Course of Mexican History it went along these lines-"My children: a new dispensation comes to us today. Will you receive it? Will you free yourselves? Will you recover the lands stolen by three hundred years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards? We must act at once… Will you defend your religion and your rights as true patriots? Long live our Lady of Guadalupe! Death to bad government! Death to the gachupines!'" The "gachupines" are Peninsulares, or Spaniards born in Spain but living in "Nueva Espana."
Today the Grito goes a little something like this:

Mexicans!
Long live the heroes that gave us the Fatherland!
Long live Hidalgo!
Long live Morelos!
Love live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!
Long live Allende!
Long live Aldama and Matamoros!
Long live National Independence!
Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico!


At the end of each exclamation mark the crowd shouts "viva." This is a national tradition that unites Mexicans to their history. The night Gloria and I arrived in Guanajuato was the 16th of September, 2011. After making our way to the hotel Real de Minas and getting somewhat settled, we headed to the Alondiga de Granaditas. This is another historic building where Hidalgo's company stormed in and killed every single Spaniard alive: men, women, and children. It was extremely brutal what they did in retaliation to the Spaniards. For me, killing innocents not involved in politics that kept the majority in slavery in Nueva Espana makes me not consider Hidalgo as such a heroic figure, but nonetheless he did spark the uprising that eventually made Mexico an independent country. In one of my literature classes here at the Tec de Monterrey we had to read the book Los Pasos de Lopez by Jorge Ibarguengoitia. I absolutely loved the novel. Ibarguengoitia paints Hidalgo and the other conspirators of the insurgency as normal people, with traits that make them human and therefore fallable. He wanted to demystify the legends of untouchable heroes in Mexico. So, when we arrived in Guanajuato my perception of Hidalgo was very different than a national hero, he was a person just like anyone else, with interests and shortcomings-who performed something extraordinary.
We arrived at the main plaza around 10:50 PM, ten minutes before the "Grito" began.

We made our way towards the actual Alondiga de Granaditas. And then it happened...

Just like the Fourth of July, there is a sense of community as each individual and family unite under the Mexican flag. This is theatre at its best. The whole make-up is a ritual tradition, and it is quite beautiful to see so many people gather to watch a ritual performance. May I refer those who are reading back to the origins of modern theater in Greece. Theatre sprang out of the rituals of the City Dionysus. This is something similar as well, although this time it's not so much religious as it is political/historical. The whole night was looking towards this one moment for the "grito."

 Afterwards they set on fire two figures that appear to be Hidalgo and some other person important in the fight for Mexican independence. Pretty much all the lights went out to make the pyrotechnics stand out incredibly. The whole set-up was performed wonderfully, and by wonderfully I mean that it fulfilled its purpose to unite Mexicans in their patriotism. It made me even feel a bit jealous for their tradition, because in the United States we just sing the national anthem, eat BBQ and watch the traditional set of fireworks. Here they come together at a historical monument, give homage to their forefathers, sing the national anthem, and still have time for fireworks at the end.

Afterwards we walked around and enjoyed some food. All over Mexico, in just about every pueblo the "grito" that began the revolution is still remembered in the hearts of Mexicans.