November 18, 2013 Revolution Parade in Chapala


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North America » Mexico » Jalisco » Ajijic
November 18th 2013
Published: November 19th 2013
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Toronto had its Santa Claus Parade yesterday and in Chapala, today, we had a parade to celebrate the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution.

The Mexican Revolution lasted a decade ending 30 years of dictatorship on November 20, 1920.

The Revolution parade is all for the children. Many of the children dress up to represent the soldiers who fought during the revolution but others dress in school and after school outfits. Some even perform during the parade (boxing, gymnastics etc.).

We had a very difficult time getting to Chapala in the morning. Had we realized, we could have walked or taken a taxi but we had no idea that there would be fewer buses due to the holiday and that every bus would be packed to the doors with parade goers and unable to even stop for us.

After waiting an hour and watching 5 buses go by, we were just about ready to give up when a local driver in a Ford Explorer stopped for a family that was waiting with us. They told us to come with them. There were 3 adults, 2 children, 2 of us and the driver. They wouldn’t let us climb into the very back instead, the mother and 2 children sat in the back, we and the grandmother had the back seat and the father sat up front with the driver. They didn’t speak a word of English and we can count on our fingers the number of Spanish words that we know, but they sure made us feel like family.

We arrived in Chapala just as the opening ceremonies were beginning. The parade was wonderful and very long. It started at 9am and finished at 12pm. The procession went up one side of the main street which is actually a boulevard. When it reached the end of the boulevard, the parade turned and came back down the other side of the street.

When the parade was over we didn’t wait long before giving up on the buses and went for lunch at the Beer Garden which is close to the Malecón and the water. It was a great choice! The mariachi bands were performing by the park and we learned that not only are the Mexican men and women great Latin dancers, the horses are too. Many of the horses and their riders were there and the horses were taking turns dancing to the music.

The restaurant was one that we will definitely visit again. For lunch we ordered “Molcajetes”. Described as “mounted on a volcanic hot stone with roasted cactus, petite onion, cheese (ours was with chicken) and served with just made tortillas”. Since we really had no idea what it was or whether we would even like it, we asked to share. I am so glad we shared, it was huge. Although the flavours were wonderful we couldn’t eat it all and asked if we could take the leftovers home.

The people at this restaurant were so accommodating, they didn’t say anything but sent someone down the street to purchase a take-away container for us.



The best part of this is that Jesseniah who speaks English and was so nice to us at the restaurant is going to send the recipe to me.


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19th November 2013

Spanish lesson of the day
¡Viva la Revolución! Viva los DirtDwellers Canadienses. ¡Me lleve al desfile!
19th November 2013

Spanish lesson of the day
Gracias Steve : )

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