September 16, 2010 marks the 200th birthday of Mexico as an independent nation. So the whole of Mexico, and Mexicans around the world, will celebrate Mexican Independence Day 2010 with pride and vigor.

It was on Sept. 16, 1810 that Mexico declared independence from Spain, with priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla being the first to do in the small town of Dolores, Guanajuato.

A bloody fight for the self-declared independence to be recognized then ensued for 11 long years until the ‘Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire’ was formally signed in 1821.

I’m not Mexican and have no links to Mexico as far as I know. But I’ll mark the occasion by eating some nachos and drinking a few bottles of Sol beer. I know it’s not much, and hardly traditional, but it’s as good as you’re going to get.