Yes, there were fireworks in Mexico on the Fourth of July. Not for U.S. Independence Day, of course, but in the little Oaxaca Valley town of Teotitlán del Valle, where they were celebrating the town fiesta that always falls during the first week of July. Just happened to be July 4 this year.
December 12 was a big day in Oaxaca. First of all, it was Virgin of Guadalupe Day – th
e day marking the appearance of the Virgin Mary to indigenous peasant Juan Diego in 1531, a huge deal in this state of 16 different indigenous groups. But it was also one of the few annual presentations of the Danza de la Pluma (Dance of the Feathers) in Teotitlán del Valle.
Embracing the Chaos 