Sellers of Mexican flags
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20040911-9...
Tradition leads up to Independence Day
By Anna Cearley
September 11, 2004
TIJUANA ? In the weeks leading up to Mexico's Independence Day celebrations, busloads of people arrive from the country's interior to sell flags of
all sizes.
The flag sellers ? many from Mexico City ? are as much a tradition as the Sept. 16 holiday itself. But some go back home baffled by Tijuana's border
culture, wondering whether the city is as patriotic as other parts of Mexico.
"I've sold flags in Acapulco, in Leon, Chihuahua and Puebla, and in those places the people are more interested in the flags," said Lu?s Flores
Serrano, 21, a native of Mexico City. "Maybe it's because people here forget where they come from."
Tijuana, a city of immigrants from all over Mexico, is teeming with the sounds of provincial Spanish accents. People come here to earn more money or
to cross illegally to the United States. It's short on quaint colonial churches and long on international assembly factories that employ thousands of
recent arrivals.
But city officials say patriotism is alive and well among its estimated population of 1.3 million. The challenge is in unifying so many diverse
groups.
"The people are from all parts of Mexico, so they bring their perspective of the area where they come from," said Maria de Lourdes Akerlundh, who
oversees the city's Civic Action Department. "We also have a city that lies on the border, and includes not just Mexicans but people from other
countries."
The fact that Mexico's cities have civic action departments demonstrates the priority given to patriotism. Tijuana's department organizes 22 patriotic
events each year, including monthly flag ceremonies in which children put on folkloric dances and recite poems in honor of Mexico's historical
figures.
Yet, something about the border is distinct.
"I'm not sure what to think of the people here," said Mauricio Fern?ndez Mart?nez, 18, who came from Mexico City to sell flags. "They are . . .
different."
Jos? Manuel Valenzuela, a researcher with El Colegio de la Frontera Norte who specializes in culture and social movements, said that people in
Mexico's interior have always been suspect of the loyalties of those who live along the border.
Mexicans in border cities like Tijuana often have deeper ties to the United States than those who live in other parts of Mexico. Some take classes or
work in jobs north of the border. Others have extended families in the United States and regularly go shopping in San Diego. The city's tourism
industry also depends heavily on U.S. visitors.
This doesn't mean patriotism is waning at the border, he said.
"Just because people use 'OK' and 'bye' in their conversations here doesn't make them any less Mexican," he said. "What we are seeing is the
incorporation of elements from the process of globalization. They are being introduced within the culture, and being given new meaning."
That process is taking place throughout Mexico, he said, but is probably more noticeable at the border and to people like Flores, who arrived in a bus
with 30 people to sell flags.
"It's an adventure," Flores said. "I'm learning about what life is like for people who live and work on both sides of the border."
But he wasn't intrigued enough to stay longer than he had to. The flag sellers earn at least $350 and get free room and board during their
month-and-a-half stay, according to several. Many of them are housewives or students or hold part-time jobs.
They are easy to spot because the red, white and green flags tower over their heads. Some drag carts of the flags through the city's streets, others
hoist the flags over their shoulders, and the rest plunk down samples on street corners.
No one seemed to be able to explain why the flag industry requires their annual migration. But people pay more for flags in Tijuana and other areas
outside of Mexico City. A larger flag costs about $8 in Mexico City, for example, but three times that in Tijuana, said one vendor.
At a downtown corner, Alicia Santiago, 27, hushed her 10-month-old daughter as they watched a steady stream of people walk past her stand of flags.
She had joined her husband, who was walking with his flags in another section of Tijuana, on this trip.
"I usually stay at home, and he works in a factory," said Santiago, who lives just outside of Mexico City. "This is something we do to help make ends
meet. It's not a vacation."
Some non-Mexicans confuse Mexican Independence Day with Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, which commemorates the victory of Mexico over the French
army at The Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Mexico's independence movement against Spain took place in 1810. It's celebrated the evening of Sept. 15 when people gather at plazas or government
buildings to witness the "call to independence." The festivities continue the following day.
In Tijuana, the call to independence will take place at several neighborhood centers at 10 p.m. Wednesday. About 40,000 people are expected to show up
at the main event at City Hall. A parade is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday. In San Diego, the Mexican consul and the Mexican Cultural Institute will
hold a celebration from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. It will be at the Embarcadero Marina Park South, behind the convention center.
The question of Mexican patriotism, and how it is expressed, is not limited to Mexico. Even those who have acquired U.S. citizenship and live north of
the border feel a tie to the country of their ancestors.
Timotea Silva, a Mexican-American who lives in San Diego, broke away from the crowd of pedestrians walking through Tijuana's downtown to inspect
Flores' flags.
Silva didn't need the flag for Mexico's Independence Day. In fact, she said, her family doesn't normally celebrate it. This was for her son, a U.S.
citizen who had asked her to send a flag to England, where he is stationed with the U.S. Air Force.
"My son is very far, and for him to have the flag will make him feel closer to us," she said. "When you are from Mexico, one always carries that in
the heart."
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