Independance Day

Hey all,

September 15th marked the 188th anniversary of Costa Rica's independance from Spain, and it seemed to be a pretty big deal here. The kids get 2 days off school, but for a lot of them, one of those days is taken up with mandatory involvement in parades etc. Rachel and Nathan didn't have to participate as Grade 1 classes weren't part of it and Rachel didn't have a costume.

The festivities started the night before with the "Fiesta de la Luz", or festival of the lights. There were some speaches in front of the municiple building, and then they have the procession of lights. All the kids bring along a candle holder, which is a stick with some ornate open box on top for the candle. These are often homemade, and one I saw up close had a beer bottle cap nailed into the bottom of the box to hold the candle. Then there was a simple box frame and transparent colored plastic for the sides. The best one we saw was a chicken on a stick with an opening in the back for the candle. Sorry, I didn't have my camera for that, so I don't have any photos.

The next day started with more civic speaches, and then the parade. Most of the schools in town have an entry, and the kids dress up in traditional costumes, and if the school is large enough, they have a marching band as well. The parade goes around the central square which is a beautiful green space with big palm trees as well as mango and guyaba trees among others. In the square were little street vendors selling trinkets, food, and cold drinks, etc. We bought some "Granizados" (which I'm sure I spelled wrong), which is shaved ice with a combination of layers of condensed milk, a bit of powdered milk, and a squirt of red syrup on top. I know, sounds rather unappetizing but when you mix it all together, it was quite good and very refreshing on a hot day. The Granizado guy must have had a sore arm by the end of the day because his cart holds a big block of ice that he uses some gizmo to manually shave one cup at a time. Then his wife would add all the toppings - quite neat!

We also tried some green mango slices sold in a small bag with salt and lime... Everybody said "This would go great with vodka or tequila..."

Here are some pics of the kids and some of their new friends. Gabbi and Samantha (in the first pic) are the 2 other girls in Rachel's class that are gringos. The 2 older girls (in the second pic), are Gabbi's sister Trisha and her sixth grade friend Adriana; the other boy in the picture is Nathan's buddy and classmate Wyatt.