Saturday was Cinco de Maio; a minor Mexican holiday that is a major event here in the US. It celebrates a Mexican military victory over the French. It has become an excuse here in the US to eat Mexican food and drink Tequila and beer. The grocery stores have been full of displays of Mexican products and flags in the run up to the day.
It feels a bit like St Patrick’s Day, another celebration that is more significant here than in the old country and which is marked by consumption of booze. Personally, I don’t see why people need an excuse.
On a side note, I am currently managing changes to a computer system to make it suitable for use in the UK. There has been some muttering about how annoying it is that the UK uses the “wrong date format”; putting the day before the month. The name of this celebration emphasizes my point that the US is out of step with the rest of the world; Cinco de Maio puts the day before the month.
