When friends and family say they want to visit, there are several questions that I ask. If they are working, when would they have vacation time, and how much time. Whether or not they are working, I ask – What type of weather do you prefer, hot or cold? Dry season or rainy season? What type of insects and other creatures will you be comfortable with? Would you like to be here to experience any of our holidays? What type of activities would you like – hiking, the beach, educational tours, cultural events, etc., or just plain hanging out and relaxing. The answers help me plan an enjoyable visit.
When hosting visitors during Mexican holidays, especially national holidays, there are added things to consider. You will probably need a great deal of advance notice if you need tickets or a hotel room, since these events attract hordes of international visitors, and this turned out to be the case for my son’s upcoming visit for Day of the Dead. But for now, I will write about my sister’s visit for this year’s Mexican Independence Day.
As I’ve mentioned before, Colima is an agricultural state, and I live in a small village of less than 2000 people. Normally, I am content to attend whatever ceremonies we hold in the village for Independence Day and then watch the president give “The Grito” from Mexico City via the internet. However, for my sister’s visit, my neighbor suggested I reserve a hotel room in our state capital, also called Colima.
Fortunately, I WAS able to reserve a room at the hotel that used to be called Hotel Ceballos, and is now the Concierge Plaza Colima. It sits along the border of the plaza, along with the Old Cathedral and government buildings, so we had a good view of the events from a hallway balcony.
I was worried about the weather since this is still the rainy season, but fortunately it did not rain for the two days we were there. The night of the 15th was great, with bands, dancing in the plaza, The Grito shouted from the balcony of the government building, and then fireworks into the sky, followed by the grand finale – the lighting of the Castillo, a tower of fireworks set off one level at a time until the top was lit and flew into the sky.
The next morning, after breakfast, was a parade featuring bands, school children, the military, firefighters (bomberos in Spanish), and many more people representing various sectors of the community.
In conclusion, spending the holiday in a hotel abutting the plaza where all the activities would be taking place resulted in a wonderful experience. Besides being right where the activities would be held, it was nice to be able to just walk downstairs, spend as much or as little time as one would want in the midst of all the activities, and then go back upstairs to rest, or simply go to the balcony to observe. For us, it was much better than returning to the village during the night and returning in the morning.
So there you have it, some suggestions for hosting visitors which I have found useful. For the timetable, for major holidays, the sooner you begin making and implementing plans the better. And even if you think you know the preferences of whoever will be visiting you, it is better to discuss various options such as those I listed above.
So enjoy the photos and videos.
The hotel
View from the Balcony
Government building and balcony where El Grito will be shouted
Ready for the festivities to begin
One of the bands on stage
Fireworks in El Castillo (The Castle). The video is 9 minutes long for the entire fireworks display.
mex-pat.org 