Correction to the Date of Independence and Going to Church

First let me first correct the date of Mexican Independence. It is September 16, not September 10. I was thinking of the year, 1810 when I wrote the date. My apologies! (Dates sometimes elude me!)

Going to church in Mexico has been one of the most interesting experiences I´ve had here. A week ago I went to church for the 7:30 a.m. service. After about 15 minutes, Maria came to the mic and said that the priest was still at home and that she didn´t know when he would arrive. I waited 15 more minutes. He finally arrived at 8:00 a.m. and quickly vested although he didn´t wear a stole. He was smiling and charming and very young. It didn´t seem as though he thought he was late. I thought he was very late.

Last Sunday I attended a large church close to the center of town. The neighbors told me that la misa started at 11:00. I rode the bus and arrived at 10:15. I knelt and prayed. I read the mass and I studied irregular verbs while I waited. The service began at noon with a full house of people of all ages. There was incense carried by a young boy. There was a young girl carrying the processional crucifix. The processional torches were huge and two young boys carried them with great ease. I thought of Celeste, Stephen, Nii, Michael, Jason, Edward, Molley, Karmo and all my young friends who are acolytes at Grace. Young girls in red vests served as ushers.

The most striking thing to me about the churches I have attended so far is that there is no organ. The music is chanted by the congregation, a cantor and the priest. If there is instrumentation there are guitars or keyboards or mariachis.

Yesterday, while I was studying irregular verbs, I watched several men walk into church dressed in mariachi clothing. They were carrying their instruments on their shoulders. They set up off to the side in the nave in front. The procession began when the mariachis began to play and the cantor began to sing. There were two trumpets, three guitars of all sizes and two violins. The cantor played a guitar. They word black pants with traditional silver down the seam of each leg. They wore the short black jackets. I was able to sing some of the service music with them! The first day I was in Cuernavaca three people told me that mariachis played in the Cathedral for Sunday services. Mariachis provide an important musical role in the churches here.

Last Friday, the school attended a celebration for Cuernavaca´s 478 years. These years represent pre-conquest years. The city was named by the indegenous people, Cuauhnahuac, (Place on the outskirts of the grove). But the Spanish couldn´t pronounce the word and renamed it ¨Cuernavaca¨.

There were huge, brightly colored examples of ancient indegenous clothing at this celebration. One of the most wonderful words I have learned is orgullo. It means pride. There was a headress on top of one of the models with that word. Students from the language schools in Cuernavaca received awards of excellence from the town council. There were also awards of achievement for many citizens. Afterward, there was traditional folk dancing and mariachis. (Two of the mariachi players were females.)