Saturday, May 5, 2012

Memoir: Cinco de Mayo in Douglasville

Another memoir from Douglasville.
Every May Douglasville turned into a Spanish town. We studied the Mexican culture, learned lots of Spanish words and phrases and celebrated Cinco de Mayo!  We would read stories about Mexico and their culture, history and children in that part of the world. The thing that made it the most fun, though, was the celebration.

For the whole month we played mariachi band music, learned the hat dance and could even sing some of the songs. On the day we chose to celebrate, we would decorate the room in colors of the flag of Mexico. We would do Spanish games. We really felt like we WERE a Spanish town. Having Mexican food was a big treat, too.

I was always proud of the Douglasville citizens as they left our classroom at the end of the year knowing how to count in Spanish as well as knowing all the colors and other familiar words. I wonder how many today can still count in Spanish because they spent a year in Douglasville!

If you are wondering what cinco de Mayo is, here is a little bit of history for you!
Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “Fifth of May”) commemorates the Mexican army’s unexpected victory over the French at the 1862 Battle of Puebla. While the event is still celebrated in Puebla, it isn’t a significant holiday in the rest of Mexico. That doesn’t stop us from partying here!

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