Cinco de Mayo? Not just a Mexican celebration.

A few days ago, people celebrated Cinco de Mayo, which is the Mexican celebration that commemorates the victory of General Zaragoza's forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. With the help of the tenacious Southwest terrain and a stampede of cattle set off by local peasants, the Mexican troops stopped the French from invading their land.

Interestingly enough, my Dad (being the loyal Dutchman that he is) informed me a few days ago that the Mexicans aren't the only ones who celebrate May 5 as a people. The Dutch also take time on this day to celebrate the end of the German occupation in Holland after World War II in 1945. This holiday, aka Bevrijdingsdag, was declared a national holiday in 1990 and is celebrated all over Holland with street festivals.

Thanks to my Tante Nel, (Dutch for Aunt), I was able to make some small, humble attempt at the pronunciation of this word: ba-vri (swallow the "r")--dins-daa (clear throat sound)g. It was not very successful.