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Last updateFri, 02 Oct 2015 1pm

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A midwesterner moves to Mexico - Parades Without Candy

“This is Mexico,” the woman next to me said as we waited for the Mariachi Festival parade to start.

We were standing at a corner with a Domino’s Pizza on our left and a Starbucks on our right. People around us were wearing t-shirts and checking their cell phones.

From where I stood, there was little to remind me that I wasn’t in the Midwest waiting for a Fall Festival parade. But then the parade started.

And, unlike the parades of my Midwest, there were no politicians handing out candy, no car dealerships showing off their shiny cars and giving out candy, no Homecoming queens sitting on the back of convertibles while tossing candy, and no kids with bags expecting candy.

What there was was a history lesson, with mariachi musicians, Mexican hat dancers, a small boy spinning a lasso, and bands, baton twirlers and horseback riders, all in traditional dress. 

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