In Chicago, this day last year, I visited the Pilsen neighbourhood to see some murals painted on its walls.
Coincidentally, a Mexican Independence Day parade was taking place.
The parade was a very festive occasion, with floats, trucks, vintage cars, motorbikes and riders on horseback making their way along a long, straight street.
Along the way I saw...
- Comedy with a man pushing a trolley-like cart with three female mannequin heads wearing sunglasses perched on top. (Sadly he went past me too quickly for a photograph.)
- After the parade, lots of families gathered in a park for a picnic and an American football game amid shouts of "these ladies need water ASAP" and "double bubble, double bubble!"
- It was interesting to see these Mexican and American traditions mix and mingle, which on a sunny day in Chicago felt like the American dream coming true.