Note: Monday is Mexican Revolution Day (didn't we just have one of these?), so no class for me. Therefore I am taking a last-minute and probably undeserved trip to the beach.
Dear Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa,
Before I go to the beach for a three-day weekend, I want to say a quick thanks for the Revolution of 1910. I can't go into greater depth about it because it was extremely long and confusing and I get it confused with other revolutions. I also don't want to look like I'm taking sides on such a bloody movement, which resulted in lots of people (including you) getting assassinated, and 70 years of single-party rule.
I have to admit that even though I wrote a paper on your uprisings in my Latin American History course, I still get you guys mixed up. It's the mustaches. People here seem to be divided on whether you were well-meaning guys or bandits. But they keep naming subway stops and restaurants after you. So it's hard to imagine what Mexico would be like without you.
Villa and Zapata enjoy a quiet moment together in the Palacio Nacional in 1914, after their armies converged in Mexico City. Villa sits on the presidential throne where Porfirio Diaz sat for 34 years, while Zapata is cool with just savoring the historic photo op. Otilio Montaño, professor and the David Axelrod of Zapata's Tierra y Libertad campaign, is wearing a head bandage on the right.
And Mr. Villa - I went to a restaurant downtown where you reportedly walked in and shot your gun at the ceiling. Was this before or after you ate? I thought you'd be pleased to know that the bullet hole is still there, and since then someone has drawn a circle around it.
Sincerely,
Me.
