Independence Day

All right, now I'm really on a roll! On to Independence Day. Costa Rica's Independence Day is on September 15th, which was a Tuesday. Monday night is usually a pretty big night to go out to the clubs here in San Jose, so you can imagine what that Monday night was like, especially since most people didn't have work or school on Tuesday. It was a really fun night, especially because our Tico friend Bernie knows pretty much everyone in San Jose, and was able to get us past an hour and a half long line into the club, and then get us a table when all of the tables were full. It was the first time I went out in San Jose, and it was great to dance and hang out in a setting other than school with my friends. It was also really nice to sleep in the next day. I really didn't do much on Tuesday, since we didn't have school. In the evening I ended up going to an elementary school that's about 10 minutes away walking, and we watched their Independence Day assembly. It was super cute, because a lot of the kids dress up, and lots of the little girls wear traditional outfits, which consist of white skirts and blouses with red and blue ruffles (those are the colors of Costa Rica). Also, all of the kids make lanterns (globos) to carry in a parade after the assembly, so during the assembly there was an awards ceremony for the best lanterns of that year. Some of the lanterns were incredibly elaborate; I saw one that was practically a full miniature dollhouse!

The assembly consisted of the singing of the national anthem, the flag song, and some other song...their national songs are much longer than ours. A few little boys also got up and gave little speeches. Then came the parade, where all of the families and the kids lit the lanterns and walked along the streets, along with a group of about 20 kids drumming very loudly. We followed along, taking pictures, until our turn came to walk home.

So that was my Independence Day experience!