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'El Grito' is opportunity for learning


By John Waters Jr., SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Thursday, September 21, 2006 1:15 AM PDT

Even though for the past three years, Alfonso Pena, 10, of Calistoga has been working hard with his mom, dad and sister to serve hundreds of tacos at the annual celebration of El Grito marking the anniversary of the cry for Mexico revolt from Spain in 1862, he knows little of the history behind the celebration.

"They really don't teach us anything about Mexican history at school," said Alfonso on Friday. "I know that we celebrate the official call for Mexicans people to start to fight against the Spaniards."

As the sun sank quickly behind the Mayacamas mountains near Calistoga, Alfonso, his father Ernesto, his mother, Maria Alfaro and his sister Bianca Pena, along with several other family members, were busy cooking enough pork and beef to make enough tacos for about 400 people who would eventually crowd the Pioneer Park in celebration of their homeland's greatest holiday of the year.

"I was lucky to be raised in a family where I was taught about the history and culture of Mexico," said Bianca Pena, 19. "Most of the education about our culture has to be handed down by the adults because there is really nothing of our history taught at schools here."

Bianca said she was born and raised in Calistoga.

"That's why this celebration is so important," she continued. "It's about remembering where you come from and who you and your people are. It's a great time for celebration, and a great opportunity for education.

At 19, Bianca's opinion agrees with the opinion of Jaime Martin, from the San Francisco office of the Consulate General of Mexico.

"The Mexican people are very nationalistic, and very patriotic," Martin said. "When we celebrate this great event so far from our homes we are reminded of who we are, and the many values we share -- that no matter where in Mexico we are from."

Martin also sees the educational value of the celebration.

"In Mexico all of our schools learn from the same history book, so children all know the story from the same source," he said. "Here in America sometimes the children can get books from Mexico about our history, but more often they have to learn from their parents and family members who moved here before they were born, or when they were young."

Martin said representatives from the Mexican goverment try to visit as many Mexican communities as possible in areas where a consulate office exists.

"I have been coming to Calistoga for three years now," Martin said. "I am also available to visit any of the local schools to visit with the children and talk to them about who they are and about the history Mexico and importance of remembering who they are."

Mexico celebrates the Fifth of May, or Cinco de Mayo, to commemorate the victory of the Mexican army over the occupying army of France at Puebla in May of 1862, but its push to become independent from Spain began much earlier, on Sept. 15, 1810, according to Martin.

At the time, Mexico was still known officially as New Spain, and was the most important Spanish colony in the New World.

Spain was under pressure from French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte, as was most of Europe at the time, which also posed a threat to Spain's new world holdings. That French threat united two groups of Mexicans, those of Spanish descent and those who were descendents of mixed marriages between Spaniards and native peoples, in a conspiracy against Spain.

Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the pastor of a parish in the village of Dolores, was one of the leaders of the conspiracy. When Hidalgo learned on Sept. 15, 1810, that the conspiracy had been discovered by the Spanish authorities, he had no choice but to begin the rebellion that night, according to Martin.

On the next day, Sept. 16, Mexican people gathered in the courtyard of the church, were Father Hidalgo inspired them with a fiery "El Grito": "Long live religion!, Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Long live the Americas and death to the corrupt government!"

That was the famous cry that triggered the long struggle for Mexican independence. The Cry -- El Grito -- is repeated again and again, every year, in Mexico City from the balcony of the National Place in Mexico by the President of Mexico, and it is echoed by the governor of each state throughout the country.

It was also repeated by nearly 400 people in Calistoga.

Even as Martin was raising the Mexican flag in Calistoga's Pioneer Park at 9 p.m., the President of Mexico was doing the same thing from the central balcony of the National Palace, in Mexico City.

"This is the greatest celebration in Mexico," Martin said. "Everyone gathers in the town center at the time, and if you can't go to the town square, then it means you hold a celebration in your home to mark the greatest event in Mexican history."

Leading up to the moment of El Grito, Mexicans and Americans from American Canyon to Calistoga celebrated with an evening of music, including singing by Calistoga's Placido Garcia, and a lot of dancing by Ballet Folklorico of Napa Valley College.

Traditional Mexican foods were served, like Pena's tacos, known by many Napa Valley families "as the best tacos," said Pena's daughter Bianca.

Chicharones -- cabbage, sour cream and a mild red sauce -- served on a slice of fried cuervitos, or pork rind, was served up with a smile by the girls of Nuevas Culturas, a culture and social club at the Calistoga High School.

Rafael Velasco and his family from St. Helena were also there serving up his equally-famous tortas.

Both families have been serving food at the event for the past three years.