Well, yes. Imagine that we celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in Bucerias. There really is an Irish Pub here and they go all out like true Irishmen. I was surprised to discover that the Mexican's are very fond of the Irish. It all stems back from the Mexican American war, when Irish fighting for the US deserted to fight on the Mexican side. Here is a little bit that I read about it:
"It involves St. Patrick's Battalion, also called the San Patricios and Los Colorados, whose members deserted Gen. Zachary Taylor's army in the late 1840s and took up arms for Mexico in the Mexican American War. During various campaigns of the two-year conflict, from which the U.S. gained half of Mexico's territory, the San Patricios served as an artillery unit. Long honored in Mexico on St. Patrick's Day and Sept. 12, the anniversary of many of their executions, they've received little attention in the U.S.
In all, about 9,000 U.S. soldiers deserted the war. The San Patricio unit included Germans, Scots and others. While considered traitors in their day, in Mexico and Ireland they were hailed as heroes.
They opposed fighting fellow Catholics and had yet to establish a solid allegiance to the U.S., conscripted as they were immediately after immigrating. They weren't given U.S. citizenship. Fierce anti-Catholic prejudice within the ranks also fueled their desertion.
The battalion is honored in Mexico with schools, churches and streets named for them. In Ireland's County Galway, a ceremony is held in their honor. Both Mexico and Ireland have issued San Patricio postage stamps."
Isn't that amazing?
So. last night we walked the four blocks to The Shamrock, where there was a rocking big party happening. Just about everyone was wearing something green. The empty lot across the street from the pub was set with a stage, beer and food tents, lots of extra tables and chairs, a stall selling everything Irish and even a bouncy tent thingy for the kids to play on. Kids are included in just about everything here.
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