September 15 we celebrate El Grito which marks the anniversary of “the yell” announcing Mexico’s freedom from Spain. We yell out “Viva Mexico!” September 16 carries over the celebration of independence. It is a beautiful celebration of color, life, culture, and national pride. This year was my first year where I have been in a family group chat with family members all around the world, and it was really cool to see everyone post the different ways they were celebrating. Tacos, pozole, decorations, fireworks, etc. It felt special to share in our little virtual celebration.
Peanut and I celebrated by decorating the house in preparation for día de los muertos. We figured September 15 was a great day to show our cultural pride with El Grito, Hispanic Heritage month (Sept 15 – Oct 15) starting and ending mid-October which is then perfect time for Halloween / día de los muertos celebrations. So the papel picado, marigolds, and the (fake) candles on timers are out in full effect. With more candles and more papel picado coming!
Plus my birthday falls right in the mix on October 14th, so what better way than surrounded by my culture which I adore!
On a less celebratory note, the pain in the head (occipital nerves to be specific) is still around and landed me back in the hospital for shots to the back of the head. They didn’t numb the area this time and did more shots so on September 15 there were two gritos – the Mexican one and this Mexican’s yell of pain.
For those wondering, I am feeling a little better. There is still pain and definitely sore from the shots. The best way to describe it is being stabbed in the back of the head; small aggressive stabs. I didn’t sleep much last night but I am hoping to get some rest tonight. My brain still feels a bit foggy but not completely lost like I was last time. But as it goes with shitty American insurance, the medication shot I need was not approved so instead a more painful and reoccurring alternative is what I get. Health care here is a joke. Sigh.
As a side note: please wear your masks! Us high risk folks cannot gamble like everyone else with this Covid nonsense. I get that we are all beyond exhausted. Trust and believe the cabin fever is getting real here. But it won’t matter much if we aren’t around to enjoy life when Covid is under control.
Now just some pics of life at Casa CuiQuee:
