(I just thought this was super cute, and no one else gets this unless they live in Costa Rica, sooo here you go)
Yesterday, I went to school early so I could get ready for the festivals of the day. All the students in my school selected a place in Costa Rica with their group to represent. My group had selected Guanacasta, and so we had to represent Guanacasta, which is on the Pacific, and is GORGEOUS! We made lots of decorations, people cooked food, and we were told to wear a specific type of clothing. As I arrived yesterday morning, I saw our stand set up, and my companeras in their traje typical. Traje Typical, is the picture below. It is meant for dancing, which I did not do haha....but it is made up of a simple shirt, and a skirt that is made with a LOT of material, it was very heavy. So I got dressed, and then the other groups came, and the festivity began. Everyone was in the gym, and it was pretty much a big food fest where everyone went to "different places in Costa Rica" and ate the typical food they ate there. For example, in Guanacasta, we had a lot of food that was based on corn. But, if you were to go to Cartago, there was more sweets and refrescos.
Me and my friend Fernanda
Our Guanacasta stand before all the food was on it
Anyway, after that I went to the park later at night. There was a big festival which consisted of typical dancing, bands, and the lighting of a torch. This torch signified the beginning of Independence Day in Costa Rica.
Then, the next day/today, I went back to Santiago for the big parade in the park. It was gigantic! There were so many people and the parade seemed to consist of so many people! It was made up of children, schools, dancers, bands, gymnastics, and a lot more. I thought it was really cool and it was a great representation of the culture here!
Typical dancing
One of the many bands that played
Independence day in Costa Rica is a lot different than the 4th in the USA. I haven't heard a single firework and I am starting to get worried(; But I also talked to other exchange students, and they told me that the US is known for their Independence Day, so all in all today was a fun filled cultural learning day!(:
No comments:
Post a Comment