September 2011

Marisol turned sixteen last Saturday. Sweet sixteen.

Dressed in a bright pink jumper, her eyes sparkling, she looks so pretty as I watch her putting the last-minute touches to the pillow she's making. A little while later, when she comes in for her birthday party, I see her eyes fill with tears. The cake, a light chocolate sponge interleaved with strawberries and cream and topped with 16 blazing candles, takes her by surprise. She bursts out crying with the emotion. She hadn't expected anything like that.

Sewing class

Marisol's birthday party

A few days earlier, when I discovered it was her birthday on Saturday, I told her we would have to celebrate. Instead of excitement and joy, I detected a look of sadness in her eyes. She hugged me tight and whispered in my ear, "I miss mi mama. Every time I have a birthday, I realise another year has gone by without seeing her." So that was the reason for her sighs. Yes, every teenage girl needs her mother to confide in, to feel loved, to share life's moments. "It must be very hard not to be with your Mum, but for the moment, you've been given another family. This is your family now. We all love you."

Unlike many other girls her age, whose priorities are most likely to be chatting with friends on Facebook, going to the cinema to see the latest film, wandering around the shops looking for clothes, or maybe keeping up with Maths and Mexican History at school, Marisol has been burdened with extra responsibilities. Barely a girl herself, she is also a single teenage mother with a two-year old daughter to bring up on her own. Literally on her own. Brenda Lupita is running around among the bright balloons, happily making as much noise with them as possible. Marisol would love her mama to see her beautiful cheeky little girl but she lost track of her mother's whereabouts a long time ago due to the circumstances in her life. They haven't seen each other for many years. Nor her little brother. And she's just turned bitter sweet sixteen.

Mother and daughter

The other girls sing Happy Birthday in English to Marisol as we've taught them in our classes. I'm so proud of them. Then it's time for another song, "Las Mañanitas", the Mexican equivalent. Marisol is wiping the tears away from her cheek using a serviette decorated with party balloons. "Blow the candles out!" everyone shouts. She has a go. Unknown to her, they are magic candles which mysteriously light themselves again. This brings a smile to her face. Others help her until the candles are lifeless wax sticks.

I think back to the day when Marisol arrived at Casa Daya, almost a year ago. It was a cool crisp day up in Cuajimalpa when I arrived to give my class. The girls were sitting in the sunshine outside, warming themselves and holding their babies and kids. As I went round hugging each one, I suddenly came face to face with Marisol. She had recently arrived. Her face echoed sadness, fear, tears, hurt, uncertainty, doubt.... She clutched at me and wouldn't let me go. I still remember the exact words she said to me, "¡Me siento tan sola!" She felt terribly lonely, so alone. Her little girl clung on to her. "Welcome to Casa Daya then!" I said, telling her she would soon become one of the family.

A photo of Marisol giving me a hug on her arrival at Casa Daya

Casa Daya is a home for single teenage mums or pregnant girls who have nowhere else to go and no-one to support or help them. It offers a safe place for these girls and their children, most of whom have traumatic past histories and have been the victims of severe violence in their homes, abuse, rape, exploitation, abandon and rejection or who have been living on the streets. Here they receive psychological and medical care, are taught how to look after their children and take turns doing the housework, cooking and caring for the children. They are also encouraged to continue their schooling. Those who have never been to school are taught to read and write first. Some of them are learning a trade such as cookery or computer studies and they all learn new skills in workshops, like sewing and crafts. Their children go to the small Montessori kindergarten which is also part of Casa Daya. But perhaps most importantly, they find a home and family.

It often takes them quite a long time to settle down, to trust adults again, to open up and share. These are girls with broken bodies and broken minds, some of whom have such a low self-esteem they can't look you in the eye. Others, understandably, have difficulty in relating to their children. For so long they have been told they are"good-for-nothings", that they believe it. Although they've already lived a lifetime of abuse, they are just starting to heal and discover they are special and have talents. Casa Daya is helping them to find help, hope and and faith.

Casa Daya, Cuajimalpa

One of the girls' bedroom

Some of the mums and kids

Many hands make light work

A big family

Children in the Montessori kindergarten

Doing an activity with the girls

Artwork as therapy

Perla with her newborn baby

Playing the recorder

Learning about nutrition

Now it's time for another Mexican custom. The candles have been removed and the birthday girl has to take a bite into the cake. Marisol stoops down and sinks her teeth into the soft chocolate sponge and creamy topping. She emerges with white smudges all over her face, provoking howls of laughter from the others. Then I watch her as she proudly helps hand round a piece of cake to everyone. The children get chocolate-flavoured milk and some yoghurt with fresh papaya cut up into it. There's fruit juice for the adults. She's come a long way, I think.

I remember a certain day, sometime back in January when she had already been at Casa Daya for a few months. Marisol drew me aside and said she wanted to show me something. I was intrigued. Out of her bag came a dog-eared notebook which she had covered with some pink paper. She handed it to me. "Can I look inside?" I asked, making sure she wanted me to see. She nodded and I opened the notebook to find pages and pages of emotion-filled writing and illustrations by her. Amo a Lupita, I love Lupita.... cropped up many times. Sitting down with her, I read her writings, profound descriptions of how she felt, her hurting soul, her heartbreaking past, her fears, her doubts... it had all gushed out from her pen. And on other pages she'd scribbled touching texts about the simple beauty of the stars and flowers, her love for her daughter. I turned to her, astonished. "But Marisol, you are a poet! You are very talented!" You see, she hadn't even let anyone know that she could write and in fact we had just started doing literacy with her. That day marked a turning point. We encouraged her to open up to the others, start sharing her feelings with them, and to our surprise she began to write letters to us and the other girls, decorated with photos she'd been given and stickers. It was a hopeful beginning.

Marisol's notebook

A budding writer

The party is almost over and as I turn to say goodbye, she hugs me tight and says, "Muchísimas gracias por todo. Thanks so much for everything!" I take her aside. "You have changed so much this year. You are a completely different girl, a caring mum. I watched you as you served everyone here too. You've really gained a lot of self-confidence. You have so much to celebrate this birthday! Happy Sweet sixteen!"

The girls doing an activity

Rocio goes to cookery classes and shows us how to make spaghetti

Jonathan watches us cook from a safe spot

The girls make cards in their crafts workshop

And warm scarves... to sell

Mums and children at the Christmas party

Jaqueline with her sweet baby

Having fun making choco-crisps

An excursion to the park

Having some teenage fun

Happy to start school!

Cute little girls

Aztec ruins at Malinalco

The town is packed with colour

On the map, Malinalco looks as if it's just around the corner from Mexico City. Driving there is a different matter, though. On average, it will take you a good two hours to get to this small mountain town, depending on how many ancient wheezing vehicles you get stuck behind, how potholed the road is after the rains, whether any of the villages you go through are having a fiesta and other equally diverse reasons.

On leaving Mexico City, you first have to climb up over the mountains to about 3000 m (over 9000 ft) and then make your way along the small roads. The trip itself can be quite entertaining. You'll probably see sheep sharing football fields with players, wayside stalls selling bright green sausages, shrines along the way where someone went off the road or had an accident, people riding horses and donkeys, hundreds of stray dogs, a place selling frogs and lots of small disorganised villages with tangles of black spaghetti hanging over the roads which supposedly are electricity lines. Depending on the weather, you may even have to drive through thick cloud which whites out everything in front of you and on either side. But then suddenly, you look down on a beautiful lush green valley with strange lumpy mountains all around and you drive down into a different world.

Malinalco may be fairly close to Mexico City and Cuernavaca but it has a kind of remote, cut-off feel to it. It's a charming little town with its cobbled streets, colonial-style houses and hidden secrets tucked away among exhuberant vegetation. Colour is everywhere... thick blue skies and bubbly white clouds, succulent jungle all around, bougainvilla and other eye-catching flowers, multi-hued buildings, vivid market stalls.... a real photographer's paradise. For a small mountain town, it's also got more than its fair share of cultural sites, which include impressive Aztec ruins high up on the mountainside affording spectacular views over the valley below, a 16th Century monastery with unique frescos depicting cactus plants, trees and birds, totally in keeping with the surrounding natural environment, a museum, arty places and a string of interesting festivals. As we also discovered, it's a great place for trying out some delicious Mexican dishes.

Looking up a cobbled street

Fountain and shady trees in the main square

Girl and donkey making their way up a cobbled street

Bougainvillia and other colourful flowers

El Convento del Divino Salvador

Beautiful frescos in the cloisters

Close-up of cactus fresco

Decorated arches

We'll never forget the first time we went there. We had only been in Mexico for a few weeks when some friends of ours said they would take us to a picturesque little town for lunch, called Malinalco. "Where is this Malinalco?" I asked. "You have to go up to La Marquesa and then it's further out that way. We'll be leaving at about 1.30pm." Well, La Marquesa is about 20 minutes away so we guessed it would be maybe another 40 minutes or so after that. We assumed wrong. Following their car, we made slow progress and as the time ticked by, our stomachs began to protest noisily. Breakfast had been around our usual 8.30 time and we'd had nothing else to eat. By the time we reached Malinalco and parked, it was getting on for 4 pm. Now that's not an unusual time of day for Mexicans to eat lunch, especially at the weekend, but we were definitely not used to eating so late.

We forgave Malinalco for being so far away, though. Set in a beautiful, nature-blessed valley, off the main tourist trails, it really was worth a visit and we soon filled our ravenous stomachs up with all sorts of tasty Mexican dishes at a curious, colour-drenched restaurant in the main square. This was followed by a leisurely stroll around the markets to help the digestion process, and a peep inside the Convento del Divino Salvador which was built by the Augustinian monks and dates back to 1540. What was a huge monastery like this with its magnificient cloister and unusual frescos doing right out here in the sticks? I wondered. (On our subsequent visit, three weddings were underway in this enormous church.) That was as far as we got that first day since we then had to make our way back home to Mexico City. But it was a great appetizer.

Inside the restaurant

Paint-splattered floor

Dish with chorizo and queso

Market stall with fruit and vegetables in neatly stacked piles

Bride on her way to her wedding at the church, passing through the market

One of the many small churches in Malinalco

Church tower with the mountains behind

Horse riders

Since then, we make our annual pilgrimage to Malinalco and have discovered the impressive ruins high above the town. To reach them, you have to walk up 358 stone steps cut out into the mountainside which lurks somewhere beneath a thick cloak of moss, flowers and trees. Your lungs tend to protest more than your legs at this altitude but it's well worth the wheezing. This important Aztec site and ceremonial centre perched up on Cerro de los Idolos (Hill of Idols) towers 215 m (720 ft) above the town and was used as a centre for training and educating young recruits to the Imperial Aztec forces. If you're lucky, a guide will explain what the different structures were used for, and will point out the 13 steps, flanked by two headless jaguar statues, which lead up to the Templo de los Guerreros Águila y Tigre, with its thatched roof. This site is unusual in that it is one of the few places in the world that have temples carved into the mountain itself and is unique in America. Even if you aren't particularly interested in the history and archeology, the views are breathtaking and the exercise helps you work up an appetite. Looking down on Malinalco is like peering at a miniature town, complete with its daily noises wafting upwards.

Handicraft stalls at the start of the climb up to the ruins

Well-kept path and stone steps

Thick vegetation and surrounding mountains

Aztec ruins

Guide explaining the history of the site to visitors

View looking down over the valley

All around the town are a whole range of restaurants and eating places. This year we ate at Las Pilares, enjoying delicious chiles en nogada, a tasty dish often eaten over the Dia de Independencia festivities. Its green, white and red ingredients represent the colours of the Mexican flag: green chile poblano, stuffed with meat and fruit, covered in a creamy white walnut sauce, and decorated with red pomegranate seeds.

Chiles en nogada

People gathered in the centre for the Independence Day celebrations

A small boy enjoying the festivities

Fruit and vegetable markets, handicraft stalls, stands dishing up Mexican delights, and a glimpse into the daily life of the people in this town also make Malinalco an interesting place to visit. Once a simple mountain pueblo, it started becoming the weekend residence for a certain sector of people in Mexico City and now it's beginning to attract an arty community. Yet it continues to be off the main tourist trail for foreigners. And maybe that's a good thing. Let's keep its a secret.

Handicrafts

Mural depicting the Independence fighters of Mexico

Close-up of artistic panel around entrance to small church

Another church in the mountains

Aztec ruins at Malinalco

The town is packed with colour

On the map, Malinalco looks as if it's just around the corner from Mexico City. Driving there is a different matter, though. On average, it will take you a good two hours to get to this small mountain town, depending on how many ancient wheezing vehicles you get stuck behind, how potholed the road is after the rains, whether any of the villages you go through are having a fiesta and other equally diverse reasons.

On leaving Mexico City, you first have to climb up over the mountains to about 3000 m (over 9000 ft) and then make your way along the small roads. The trip itself can be quite entertaining. You'll probably see sheep sharing football fields with players, wayside stalls selling bright green sausages, shrines along the way where someone went off the road or had an accident, people riding horses and donkeys, hundreds of stray dogs, a place selling frogs and lots of small disorganised villages with tangles of black spaghetti hanging over the roads which supposedly are electricity lines. Depending on the weather, you may even have to drive through thick cloud which whites out everything in front of you and on either side. But then suddenly, you look down on a beautiful lush green valley with strange lumpy mountains all around and you drive down into a different world.

Malinalco may be fairly close to Mexico City and Cuernavaca but it has a kind of remote, cut-off feel to it. It's a charming little town with its cobbled streets, colonial-style houses and hidden secrets tucked away among exhuberant vegetation. Colour is everywhere... thick blue skies and bubbly white clouds, succulent jungle all around, bougainvilla and other eye-catching flowers, multi-hued buildings, vivid market stalls.... a real photographer's paradise. For a small mountain town, it's also got more than its fair share of cultural sites, which include impressive Aztec ruins high up on the mountainside affording spectacular views over the valley below, a 16th Century monastery with unique frescos depicting cactus plants, trees and birds, totally in keeping with the surrounding natural environment, a museum, arty places and a string of interesting festivals. As we also discovered, it's a great place for trying out some delicious Mexican dishes.

Looking up a cobbled street

Fountain and shady trees in the main square

Girl and donkey making their way up a cobbled street

Bougainvillia and other colourful flowers

El Convento del Divino Salvador

Beautiful frescos in the cloisters

Close-up of cactus fresco

Decorated arches

We'll never forget the first time we went there. We had only been in Mexico for a few weeks when some friends of ours said they would take us to a picturesque little town for lunch, called Malinalco. "Where is this Malinalco?" I asked. "You have to go up to La Marquesa and then it's further out that way. We'll be leaving at about 1.30pm." Well, La Marquesa is about 20 minutes away so we guessed it would be maybe another 40 minutes or so after that. We assumed wrong. Following their car, we made slow progress and as the time ticked by, our stomachs began to protest noisily. Breakfast had been around our usual 8.30 time and we'd had nothing else to eat. By the time we reached Malinalco and parked, it was getting on for 4 pm. Now that's not an unusual time of day for Mexicans to eat lunch, especially at the weekend, but we were definitely not used to eating so late.

We forgave Malinalco for being so far away, though. Set in a beautiful, nature-blessed valley, off the main tourist trails, it really was worth a visit and we soon filled our ravenous stomachs up with all sorts of tasty Mexican dishes at a curious, colour-drenched restaurant in the main square. This was followed by a leisurely stroll around the markets to help the digestion process, and a peep inside the Convento del Divino Salvador which was built by the Augustinian monks and dates back to 1540. What was a huge monastery like this with its magnificient cloister and unusual frescos doing right out here in the sticks? I wondered. (On our subsequent visit, three weddings were underway in this enormous church.) That was as far as we got that first day since we then had to make our way back home to Mexico City. But it was a great appetizer.

Inside the restaurant

Paint-splattered floor

Dish with chorizo and queso

Market stall with fruit and vegetables in neatly stacked piles

Bride on her way to her wedding at the church, passing through the market

One of the many small churches in Malinalco

Church tower with the mountains behind

Since then, we make our annual pilgrimage to Malinalco and have discovered the impressive ruins high above the town. To reach them, you have to walk up 358 stone steps cut out into the mountainside which lurks somewhere beneath a thick cloak of moss, flowers and trees. Your lungs tend to protest more than your legs at this altitude but it's well worth the wheezing. This important Aztec site and ceremonial centre perched up on Cerro de los Idolos (Hill of Idols) towers 215 m (720 ft) above the town and was used as a centre for training and educating young recruits to the Imperial Aztec forces. If you're lucky, a guide will explain what the different structures were used for, and will point out the 13 steps, flanked by two headless jaguar statues, which lead up to the Templo de los Guerreros Águila y Tigre, with its thatched roof. This site is unusual in that it is one of the few places in the world that have temples carved into the mountain itself and is unique in America. Even if you aren't particularly interested in the history and archeology, the views are breathtaking and the exercise helps you work up an appetite. Looking down on Malinalco is like peering at a miniature town, complete with its daily noises wafting upwards.

Handicraft stalls at the start of the climb up to the ruins

Well-kept path and stone steps

Thick vegetation and surrounding mountains

Aztec ruins

Guide explaining the history of the site to visitors

View looking down over the valley

All around the town are a whole range of restaurants and eating places. This year we ate at Las Pilares, enjoying delicious chiles en nogada, a tasty dish often eaten over the Dia de Independencia festivities. Its green, white and red ingredients represent the colours of the Mexican flag: green chile poblano, stuffed with meat and fruit, covered in a creamy white walnut sauce, and decorated with red pomegranate seeds.

Chiles en nogada

Fruit and vegetable markets, handicraft stalls, stands dishing up Mexican delights, and a glimpse into the daily life of the people in this town also make Malinalco an interesting place to visit. Once a simple mountain pueblo, it started becoming the weekend residence for a certain sector of people in Mexico City and now it's beginning to attract an arty community. Yet it continues to be off the main tourist trail for foreigners. And maybe that's a good thing. Let's keep its a secret.

Handicrafts

Mural depicting the Independence fighters of Mexico

Close-up of artistic panel around entrance to small church

Another church in the mountains

A young boy participating in the festival

The locals take to the streets to celebrate Mexico's Dia de Independencia

When we set off to go to Malinalco last Friday (Mexico's Dia de Independencia holiday), little did we know that within an hour and a half, we would be caught up in a colourful, noisy theatrical performance of the historical events leading up to Mexico's Independence. As we drove down into the town, it was bright and sunny. Is there anywhere to park?, we asked a policeman who was busily lounging by the side of the road. "La plaza está cerrada. Puede intentar estacionar aqui en esta calle", he replied. The square was closed to traffic but maybe we could find a parking space in this street. No sooner had we started to bump down the cobbled street, when a rabble of small Mexican horses and their riders clattered noisily and unexpectedly round the corner and galloped straight up towards us. For a moment I thought I saw Miguel Hidalgo, the priest who is famous for being the instigator of Mexico's Independence, astride his horse, his black cassock flowing and his bald crown jealously guarded by long shocks of white shoulder-length hair. Spotting a space along the side of the street, we quickly reversed into it and let the boisterous group stampede past us.

Miguel Hidalgo, instigator of independence

We found ourselves right in the centre. It seemed like the whole town was out in the streets, gathering expectantly in the square. Children and teenagers in their freshly-pressed school uniforms, bands with their shiny musical instruments, and local people of all ages dressed up as Mexicans from by-gone days had obviously just finished parading around the town. And sure enough, here came Miguel Hidalgo again, carrying the standard of the Virgen de Guadalupe, clip-clopping around the other side of the square with his band of rather wild-looking Mexican campesinos, eager to help him prise off the iron shackles of Spanish dominance and oppression. What ensued next was a very noisy representation of the messy struggle between the Mexicans and their conquistadores, the Spanish. Petardos (firecrackers) shredded the air with ear-splitting cracks, smoke filled the square, guns were waved around recklessly, and horses and riders and other characters collided together in an undecipherable tangle under an enormous awning. Meanwhile, the bands played thunderous brassy music as the crowds followed the battle with shouts of nostalgic pride.

Square where the battle took place

Some of the participants on horses

Bands playing music

A father riding with his young daughter through the streets

Men and boys on horseback

We strolled down the cobbled streets which were fringed by red, orange and yellow-tinged buildings peeping out from under their chunky-tiled roofs. Huddled all around us in this lush valley were lumpy mounds of volcanic mountains and cliffs. The sky was a healthy blue, with traces of milky-white clouds. On one street corner, the elected beauty queens of the pueblo were sitting on their makeshift thrones on the back of a truck, surrounded by an entourage of young and not-so young gawking males. The main square along with its kiosko and fountain, chaperoned by shady trees with flame-coloured flowers, was squeezed on all sides by a colour-splashed muddle of market stalls heaving with leather shoes and bags, vivid fabrics, ceramic plates and dishes, basketware and other crafts.

Malinalco's central kiosko packed full

The elected "beauty queens" of the town

Market stall selling basketware

We slipped into one of the small eating places nearby, which appeared to be run by three young ladies watching a military parade on television, and ordered a couple of Cokes. Just then, three of the victorious campesinos, their faces blackened and almost totally hidden from sight by huge pointed, broad-rimmed Mexican hats, burst in. They were obviously thoroughly relishing playing their part. Brandishing their rifles, their chests criss-crossed by bandoliers studded with shiny bullets, they shouted something at us. We didn't understand. Until they tried a different word. "¡Una cooperación, una cooperación!". Ah, so that's what they wanted. Digging deep into our pockets, we found a few coins and off the went as pleased as if they'd won a major battle against the Spanish.

Two "campesinos" ask us for a tip

Mexican cloth decorating the eating place

A couple of hours later, they were still going strong, trotting around the streets on their horses, or stalking oponents. It was obvious that on this special day, the Dia de Independencia, the locals were not only taking pride in their Mexican identity, but also having a great time participating in the show they put on every year. I'm just glad they didn't know we were from Spain.

Still riding around the town

Father and son on horseback

Flags and other decorations for sale on the street corner

¡Viva México!

Green, white and red... red, white and green.... the whole city has turned into the colours of the flag of Mexico. And this is because Mexico is celebrating its Day of Independence from Spain tomorrow on 16th September. Two hundred and one years of going it alone and ruling themselves are certainly worth commemorating. Since the beginning of September, as every year, there has been an increasing feeling of festivity in the air. You know something's going to happen, there is a kind of contained excitement and patriotic pride which will burst today, Thursday.

As you make your way around the city, you'll see that government buildings, businesses, hotels, restaurants, shops and houses have unrolled long banners sporting the three colours of the Mexican flag and are beginning to look like giant gift-wrapped presents. Some of these flags are dozens of metres long, right along the length of the building, some top to bottom. Others have so many flags and green, white and red decorations that the façade is all but hidden. At hundreds of street corners, you'll see stands selling not only flags, dresses and hats, but every possible type of item that can be made in red, white and green. ¡Viva México!

Flag stand in the Plaza Santo Domingo

The Senado with two enormous banner flags

Looking up Calle Madero towards the Torre Latino

Building in the Centro Histórico

Flags and more flags

Vendor in the Centro Histórico

Flags and policemen everywhere

Cars and buses have suddenly sprouted flags and banners, supermarkets and shops are full of festive items and special sweets and food are on sale. Pozole, a traditional soup made with pork and dried corn kernels, will be eaten in many homes. Other dishes are specifically the colours of the flag, such as chiles en nogada. And of course, large quantities of Tequila, mezcal and Coca Cola will be doing the rounds too. This morning, 15th September, schools all over the country will be re-enacting and celebrating the historical event.

A patriotic bus

Decorations hanging up in a restaurant

Typical dishes for the Fiestas Patrias

Corn Salad with the colours of the flag

Chiles en nogada

Green, red and white doughnuts

Bell-shaped decoration with image of Miguel Hidalgo

Two hundred and one years ago, in the early hours of 16th September, Miguel Hidalgo, a priest in the small town of Dolores in Guanajuato, rang the church bell to gather the people together and urged the Mexican people to rise up against the Spanish Crown. This was how Mexico's fight for independence started and ever since, on the eve of 16th September, the Grito de Dolores is commemorated in town squares. The largest celebration will take place in Mexico City's Zócalo, which has been duly decorated since the beginning of September with lights and an enormous bell, among other things. At 11 pm tonight, President Calderón will emerge on the central balcony of the Palacio Nacional in the Zócalo and will ring the bell, the very bell that Miguel Hidalgo rang that early morning, and which was brought to Mexico City in 1886. He will shout out El Grito to the thousands of people below in the square: ¡Vivan los heroes que nos dieron patria.! ¡Viva! ¡Viva Hidalgo! etc......until he ends with ¡Viva México!. The crowd will go wild waving flags, fireworks will stud the sky, and the real celebrations will begin!

Flags and the Catedral in the Zócalo

Huge illuminated bell

Decorations on the buildings in the Zócalo

Central balcony and bell - Palacio Nacional

Poster featuring Miguel Hidalgo

Decorations lit up at night (Photo: El Excelsior)

This year, in a climate of escalating violence, the government has issued a general warning over the Independence Day holidays and security will be tight in the Zócalo and in city squares all over the country. Three years ago, eight people died tragically when grenades were thrown into the crowd who had just been cheering to "El Grito" and over 100 were injured. Although three people were arrested, it is commonly believed that the real instigators and perpetrators were never caught. Impunidad, impunity, is a word which appears too often in Mexico's news. This seems to be yet another case.

Green, white and red, the colours of the flag... Green for HOPE, white for UNITY and red for the BLOOD OF HEROES. Let's hope this year that Mexico will unite against violence and that there will be no bloodshed.

¡Viva México!

Green, white and red decorated cupcakes

Comical Mexican doll

Green chilli peppers

Even ideas for patriotic nails!

* * * * * * * *

Here's a special healthy dish to celebrate Mexican Independence, complete with the famous colours:

PATRIOTIC GUACAMOLE

(Photo: Jorge Sánchez)

(For 4 people)

3 avocadoes
1 lime/lemon - juice
1 pomegranate
¼ onion, diced finely
2 chillies (chiles serranos), cut up very small (optional)
Salt

Preparation (10 minutes):

Cut the avocadoes in half. Take out the stone, remove the pulp with a spoon and put it in a bowl. Add the juice of half a lime/lemon and mash it up. Open the pomegranate and remove the seeds. Cut up the onion and chillies very finely. Add the onion, chillies and the pomegranate seeds to the avocadoes. Mix together well with a fork and season with salt. Serve as a snack with totopos or tostadas (Mexican chips).