Bet most of you didn't know that there were two holidays this week in Mexico! One was not a "legal" holiday, but still a day celebrated by many. Dia de Ninos is a day to celebrate children. Kinda like we celebrate Mother and Father's Day in the USA. Here we celebrate Children's Day as well.
Now I have to confess, I didn't know that morning when I pulled into the Pemex station that it was a holiday.
The service station man who put gas in the car told me. He is such a great guy and we always have some kind of a language lesson when I pull in, which isn't very often. He certainly doesn't make much money off of me nor does Pemex. I use less then $16USD worth of gas a month here!
Anyway, he was beaming when he told me it was the day of children. I was on my way to Celaya and promptly forgot about it until I saw families with children after school having treats at various places.
Then the very next day, yesterday, was May 1st. Labor Day, a LEGAL holiday. Many things were closed here but other then that and fireworks at 6AM, it was a very quiet day. No big parades. Not many tourists. Where were all the people?
At Mega. I had to go there for some things that I can only get there. Heavens, the lines at the checkout counters were longer then anything I've seen since Christmas time. Obviously people were using a day off
to shop.
As I drove home and passed the mall where Liverpool is located, I noticed that the parking lot was full.
Hmmm, either lots of tourists in town shopping or big sales. I did not stop to find out.
Things will be pretty quiet here for the month of May. The Feast of Santa Cruz happens tomorrow, Mother's Day happens on the 10th here and Colonia Valle de Maiz has their annual noisy celebration that can be heard all over town.
After surviving Semana Santa and the hordes of tourists in town, a little break from celebrating is greatly embraced. At least by me and many others. Usually I say, "Never a dull moment", but a lot of dull moments are coming. WOO HOO.
15 comments:
Just remember. Cinco de Mayo is not a holiday here.
Cinco de Mayo is indeed a legal holiday in Mexico, although there are not many festivities outside of Puebla. My friend Alejandro in Mexico City says a lot of people are taking a "Puente" (literally, a bridge), and will be taking an extra long weekend from Thursday, May 1st. They will not be returning to their offices until Tuesday, May 6th.
Babs,
I've negligently missed reading your blog but knew that you had not been well and required expert help. I see that you are back in action and that you are living proof that bravery can sometimes be rewarded.Yay!
Well, interestingly, conflicting comments from Jennifer and Retired Teacher.
I don't think Cinco de Mayo is a LEGAL holiday. There aren't many. I couldn't find it listed, anyway. And, if you noticed, I didn't even put it on the list of things going on this month!
It's a BIG reason to sell margaritas and beer in the USA. Not here.
Geoffrey. Ah yes, you can't keep a good woman down for long......brave, I'm not so sure...ha
Glad you're back reading the blog.
Cinco de Mayo is a holiday similar to such holidays as Presidents' Day in the United States. For most people it is just another working day. But all schools are closed throughout Mexico. I'm not sure if the banks are closed, or if there is postal delivery. As I said, my friend Alejandro told me, there are people in Mexico City who are taking a very long weekend. Although he is going in to the office today, he is taking off on Monday.
Cinco de Mayo is not a legal holiday here in Mexico, and banks, stores, and the post office remain open.
People have been known to take puentes for no reason at all, even when there is no legal holiday involved.
Both Retired Teacher and Red Shoes are correct. Nothing is closed here, not even the schools, but I CAN attest to the fact that when I headed to centro today it was chockablock FULL of more visitors!
The traffic is horrible and it took me 25 minutes to go from the jardin to Stirling Dickinson in the car.....It usually takes no more then 5 minutes! I'm home again, and have no intention of leaving.
I work within the Mexican work system and Cinco de Mayo is not an official holiday. Since " official/legal " holidays are relatively new ( I live in Mexico for 18 years now and for quite a long time we had no legal holidays outside of December 25th, Jan 1st and Easter Friday as well as September 16th ) those of us who work within the system check if on any given holiday the banks are open or not, because even after several years we are not entirely sure what's what.. The banks are open on Monday. On an official holiday like yesterday they are closed. In regard to Cinco de Mayo it is possible that in Puebla the rules are different. This of course does not impede people to take a personal day or two and making out of that an extra long puente. I took a day today, will be back in Mexico City on Sunday evening and go back to work on Monday .
Well, I did some research on Cinco de Mayo on the internet, and it said that the day is a legal holiday only in the state of Puebla, but that schools are closed nationwide. I just talked with my friend in Mexico City and we were discussing this. He said that government offices in the capital will be closed on Monday. He said that in past years the banks have been closed, but that this year they will be open. His nephew does not have school on Monday. At least that's what he says in regard to Mexico City.
Droelma, if you work within the Mexican system and are confused, you can imagine how us people who are retired feel.
I know Cinco de Mayo is a non-event, so far or ever, in San Miguel. But then events like the Our Lord of the Column, shuts everything down. Go figure.......
Who knows if there will be school Monday or not? I do have a publication that gives the "legal" holidays of Mexico which relates mostly as to whether employees receive double pay or not....as far as I can tell.
Since I'm retired, none of it matters to me. IF I need money, I always use the ATM's mid week because by Friday, Saturday or Sunday, for sure, there is NO money in any ATM in San Miguel. On a busy weekend, forget it all!Since I'm sandwiched between two schools, I'll know by 8:05 at the latest on Monday if there IS or isn't school. ha.
I just added an entry to my blog describing the historical significance of Cinco de Mayo.
Thanks Bill.
No school on Monday is all I know for sure .... no bus driving for me.
Friend says banks and government closed but we'll see
Joel what is your website and what is it about?
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