墨西哥舉國歡慶獨立200週年

Tens of thousands of Mexicans thronged into the streets on Wednesday to celebrate the bicentenary of Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.

Planes painted the sky with the national colors of green, white and red as thousands of Mexico City residents watched a huge parade down the main Reforma avenue heading to a nighttime fireworks display at the huge Zocalo central square.

Hundreds of smaller celebrations took place across the country to the sounds of mariachi music, fireworks and with streets lined with Mexican flags.

Some revelers wore straw sombreros and stick-on mustaches, poking fun at a national stereotype, while the government sought to promote a more serious side with an open-air philharmonic orchestra.

Shortly before midnight, President Felipe Calderon gave the famous cry of the call to arms, known as "El Grito," in Mexico City, echoed by state governors and mayors in desert and jungle towns and cities across Mexico.

"Viva Mexico!" is a current-day twist on rebel priest Miguel Hidalgo's original call to arms in 1810. Mexicans eventually achieved their independence from Spain in 1821.

Despite a slow recovery from last year's deep recession, many cities organized dazzling celebrations, with eight metric tons of fireworks for Mexico City alone, which lit up the city center. Mexican media put the party's cost at $40 million.

數萬名墨西哥民衆本週三涌上街頭，慶祝墨西哥獨立200週年。墨西哥在獨立前曾爲西班牙殖民地。

飛機在空中噴射出代表國旗的綠色、白色和紅色三色煙霧。數千名墨西哥城居民觀看了龐大的遊行隊伍沿着改革大道走向索卡羅中心廣場。廣場晚間還上演了焰火表演。

墨西哥全國各地還舉行了數百場規模較小的慶祝活動，人們奏響流浪樂隊的樂曲，點燃焰火，大街小巷都插滿墨了西哥國旗。

一些狂歡者戴上寬邊大草帽，粘上鬍鬚，拿墨西哥的標誌性形象開涮，而政府則以室外交響樂會的形式進行了更隆重的慶祝。

午夜前夕，墨西哥總統費利佩•卡爾德龍大呼戰鬥口號“多洛雷斯呼聲”，沙漠小城、叢林小鎮、以及墨西哥各市的政府官員及市長紛紛呼應。

“墨西哥萬歲”是墨西哥“獨立之父”米格爾·伊達戈爾1810年發出的戰鬥口號的“現代版”。墨西哥於1821年擺脫西班牙殖民統治，實現獨立。

儘管墨西哥從去年經濟危機中復甦的步伐非常緩慢，但很多城市仍組織了絢麗的慶祝活動。僅墨西哥城就燃燒了8噸焰火，點亮了城市中心上空。據墨西哥媒體報道，此次慶祝活動花費爲4千萬美元。

Vocabulary:

throng: to assemble, collect, or go in large numbers; crowd（羣集；擁塞；擁向）

mariachi: pertaining to traditional Mexican dance music, usually played by a small band of strolling musicians dressed in native costumes（墨西哥街頭樂隊，流浪樂隊）