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Posts Tagged ‘military’

Guns, drums, and horses on parade

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2022| 3 Comments »

After a two year absence, thanks to the pandemic, Mexico’s Independence Day parade returned to the streets of Oaxaca’s capital. There were lots of drums that had me hearing snare drums in my sleep that night. But, note all the young women drummers! (Click on each image to enlarge.)

Being that this was a civic and military parade, there were the requisite scary guys and gals with guns and military hardware.

But there were also contingents of firefighters, federal disaster relief, and the Red Cross.

There were horses with stunningly dressed male and female riders.

And, there were the young riders… from toddlers to preteens. Did I mention there were lots of horses?

And, to end the parade, there was a patriotic float with beautiful young women, dressed in the green, white, and red of the Mexican flag, singing the national anthem, “Himno Nacional Mexicano.”

¡Viva México!

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Celebrating independence

Posted in Celebrations, History, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2015| 11 Comments »

September 16, 2015 marked the 205th anniversary of the beginning of Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain.  Like all such occasions worldwide, it was celebrated with patriotic parades.  Here in the city of Oaxaca, civic and military contingents marched from the corner of 20 de noviembre and Trujano, passed the Government Palace, east on Guerrero, then north on Pino Suarez, to wind up at Paseo Juárez (aka, Llano Park).

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Oaxaca’s Palacio de Gobierno, with images of Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez and José María Morelos y Pavón, two of the heroes of struggle for independence.

Before you could see a contingent, you could hear it; often drums and drummers heralded the arrival of both school and military groups.

IMG_9648IMG_9653Like most patriotic parades, military and police elements dominated the civic.  In Oaxaca, we are talking federal, state, and municipal, including units from the thousands of members of the Gendarmaría Nacional, who have been in town for at least a month.  I do have to say, besides the usual, some of the camouflage face paint had an “only in Mexico” flair.IMG_9691

IMG_9719IMG_9717copySpectators lined the streets along the route, but mostly reserved their applause for the bomberos (firefighters)…

IMG_9710IMG_9711Cruz Roja (Red Cross) workers, especially the canine unit and young volunteers…

IMG_9731IMG_9727and, last but not least, the riders from the Asociación de Charros de Oaxaca, who brought up the rear.  I guess the thinking was to keep the streets free of horse manure until the end!

IMG_9742IMG_9743IMG_9758IMG_9757IMG_9750That’s all, folks!

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Independence Day

Posted in Celebrations, History, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 16, 2014| 3 Comments »

Is it cheating to post photos from the 2013 Mexican Independence Day desfile in Oaxaca?  What can I say?  It was raining today and, if it counts for anything, I never got around to posting these photos last year.

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However, I do have some news from this year:  The state police staged a protest and, besides your’s truly, Governor Cue did not attend — and I don’t think it was the rain that stopped him!

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Boys will be boys…

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, History, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 16, 2013| 6 Comments »

What do the guys do while waiting for an Independence Day parade to begin?

Men in military uniforms taking photos

And, what do gals do? Pose for them!

Young women in military uniform posing

A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes.  — Robert Frost

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Ready for El Grito

Posted in Celebrations, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 15, 2011| 4 Comments »

Let the celebrations begin!  This morning, enroute to the library, I ran into a pre-school parade coming down the Alcalá…

Children carrying Mexican flag and Viva Hidalgo sign.

These two were bringing up the rear because they kept pausing for photos, and I couldn’t resist, either!

A little girl holding the hand of an even smaller boy.

Going to the zócalo this afternoon more resembled trying to get to an airport gate, than strolling into a town square.  Security checkpoints, with metal detectors, have been set up at 10 intersections.  According to an article in this morning’s Noticias, security cameras are also in use.

Black clad military with automatic weapons, wearing flak jackets and helmets, at security checkpoint

All is in readiness for tonight’s festivities… another sound and light show projected on the cathedral, fireworks, and the Grito de Dolores from the balcony of the Government Palace.

Government Palace with flags and color portraits of Mexican heroes of Independence.

However, tonight I’ll be eating the traditional Chiles en Nogada,  listening for the bells at 11PM, and then watching the fireworks from my ringside seat on the rooftop.  ¡Viva Mexico!

(ps)  Portrait on the left is of Vicente Guerrero.

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