By Arturo Mora, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist 2009
Mexico celebrates
AGUASCALIENTES—September 16 was Dia de La Patria, Mexico’s independence celebration, a year away from their bicentennial. I was there* visiting Mom (read my print column about our immigrant family), in a city that bills itself as the “heartbeat” of Mexico. It’s a place where you can get a sense of how the average Mexican lives, away from the touristy resorts on the coasts, the cosmopolitan and yet poverty-plagued national capital (Mexico City), or the relatively lawless northern border states. It’s similar to how Kansas bills itself as the “heartland of America.”
