Happy Holidays!

If there's one thing Mexico has a lot of it's holidays! Last Monday was a holiday. I didn't discover this to be the case until I took the little colectivo to Las Varas to do some shopping and noticed the bank was closed, as were the schools, any government offices and about half the businesses. What day was it I asked. I was told cheerfully "the 5th of February, which we celebrate on Monday, Feb. 2d, so as to make it a 3 day weekend."
I was undiplomatically persistent. What's the 5th of February? I got blank looks, stares off into space, etc. A couple of people told me it was a combined holiday: Feb. 5th as well as the religious holiday of "Candelaria."
That only made matters worse. What was Candelaria? Now I got a warmer response. The Virgin of Candelaria! Okay, I said, the Virgin of Guadeloupe I understand, but the Virgin of Candelaria. What is that? I got blank looks again.
The colectivo driver told me authoritatively that the 5th of February celebrated the Mexican Army's victory (there are precious few of them) over the French at the battle of Puebla. That rang a bell. Wait a minute, I said, that's Cinco de Mayo! Oh, yeah, said the driver, you're right. He continued "I don't know what Cinco de Febrero is!"
Every one I talked to did dismiss the holiday as meaningless; that it was just yet another holiday which politicians put into place to attempt to win votes at election time.
After researching the issue on the internet, I discovered that Feb. 5th in Mexico is the "Day of the Constitution." So much for the Constitution. It obviously does not get high marks in terms of national recognition. The knowledgeable few may also ask: which constitution? the one of 1859 that practically made dictators out of the landed aristocracy and the Church; or the one of 1917, which ultimately made the PRI the effective dictator of Mexico for almost a century? Which exploitation of the Mexican people are we supposed to celebrate? The answer is......both! Mexico is an equal opportunity celebrator.
What about Candelaria? The Virgin of Candelaria comes from the Canary Islands and pre-dates the Spanish arrival in Mexico. When the Spanish priests first arrived here, they discovered the locals had a practice of hiding a kernel of corn in a cooked item. Then, whoever found it by biting into it, had to make tamales for everyone about a month later. It was part of a fertility ritual among the pre-Hispanics. Just like Quinceanera and the Posadas, the Church took over this Aztec or Mayan custom and made it part of their religious practices, so that most Mexicans today think these customs are Catholic in origin. Irony, irony. So today, Mexicans make bread with a toy inside that's eaten on the Epiphany (3 Kings Day). Whoever bites into the little toy makes tamales on the day that turns out to be a month later, or the Virgin of Candelaria day.
Alas, poor reader, you now know more about Feb 5th in Mexico than probably 3/4 of Mexicanos. It looks like we gringos have yet again something in common with the mexicanos. How many Californians can tell us when and what Admission Day is? How about what holiday is March 31st? (Cesar Chavez Day). What day is Martin Luther King Day? Well, you get the picture. And, who knows. By the time this makes its way onto the web, the Mexican federal government may have invented yet another holiday! Vive la fiesta! Have a beer! Just bite carefully into the bread!