Happy Cinco de Mayo!  If you are Mexican or of Mexican descent, I hope you have a chance to enjoy what is one of Mexico’s most prominent fiestas.  Cinco de Mayo honors Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.  I should be down the National Mall in Washington, D.C. right now enjoying the annual Cinco de Mayo festivities sponsored the Maru Montero Dance Company, but alas, I am at home studying Spanish (and taking a break to write this short blog entry, of course).  Maybe I’ll make up for it by having Mexican food for dinner. 

Of course, other Latin American nations such as Paraguay don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but this uniquely Latino festival is one of the few observed in the United States.  Paraguay’s Independence Day celebration will be on May 15 and on the evening of May 14 (Paraguay’s Flag Day) my wife and I will attend Paraguay’s Independence Day celebration at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. 

Blog Notes:  My thoughts are with those who were affected by the tornado that destroyed Greensburg, Kansas today.  Greensburg is less than an hour from where my father lived.  My father passed away, but my mother-in-law still lives there.  Meteorologists have issued a tornado warning for a large swath of Kansas and Nebraska.  I hope that no more touch down in the aftermath of what happened in Greensburg.

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