Independence Day

Here in Mexico, people celebrate Independence Day in September. This year, we had the opportunity to travel to a small town and celebrate not only Independence Day but a birthday, too. Some friends of ours from church have been asking us to visit Celestún with them for quite a while. Finally, we made plans to celebrate Henry's birthday with his family in this somewhat small fishing town. So, we packed up our hammocks and a few changes of clothes and headed out for the weekend following their little red voltswagon all the way.

When we got there, we settled in briefly then headed to the beach and let the kids play while we spent time talking with Henry's son, Alan, and his wife, Luisa, who are expecting their first baby soon. After working up an appetite, we joined their family for some fresh seafood - fried fish fillets and ceviche de pulpo (octopus) - YUM!

After filling up, we spent a relaxing afternoon just laying around, then walked to the park in the town square to eat ice cream. Since the sun was getting lower in the sky, we headed back to the beach to look at seashells and watch the sun set - Beautiful!

The evening event was Henry's birthday party. He had asked Dave to share from God's Word in a prayer/blessing to start the festivities. It was a neat opportunity as most of the exended family attending does not share the same relationship with Christ as Henry and his family do. His birthday falls on Independence Day and the traditional meal is pozole, so Henry's wife, Julia, cooked this incredibly delicious traditional dish made in this part of Mexico with turkey and hominy.

The tradition for Independence Day is to participate in "el grito" or shout at midnight in the center of town. In the town square, of course, there are also vendors, traditional dances, comedians, and patriotic traditions such as singing the national anthem. The kids had a blast staying up late and watching the fireworks display afterwards.
Click on the "play" button below to watch a short video of the Independence Day celebration.


Celestún is know for the flamingos that gather there, so although we missed out on the wildlife during this trip, it gives us another great reason to return soon!