Día de la Independencia

On September 15, 1821, Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in a joint declaration of independence from Spain. The nationwide celebration starts with parades, traditional dancers, and street parties and culminates with the arrival of the Freedom Torch in Cartago (delivered from Nicaragua by relay runners) when everyone in the country stops and simultaneously sings the national anthem. Children also enjoy faroles parades where they carry small lanterns through their towns.

Chad and I got to skip school and attend the festivities with our teachers, Marian and Julia.  We met them at the central bus station in Quepos and headed to the main square where all of the events were taking place.  We listed to a few speeches, a few songs and the nation anthem and them we were off to find a good spot on the parade route. The parade was somewhat similar to a parade in the US, except this parade was dominated by kids of all ages who were marching along singing, playing instruments and twirling batons. 

Costa Rica has no military and maintains only domestic police and security forces, however a professional Coast Guard was established in 2000.

Patriotic puppy :)

Boy Scouts in Costa Rica!  I was a little scared of their leader..

The drummers were made up mostly of boys

And the xylophones.. all girls 

Even babies dressed up for the festivities! 

While Costa Rica's colors are red, white and blue; the colors for the province of Puntarenas are white and orange 

Traditional attire 

Creepy dudes at the end of the parade 

After the parade, Julia took us to a school where the festivities continued with typical food and drink.  Each of the seven provinces of Costa Rica had a booth set up and were serving their most traditional beverages, dishes and desserts.  Most of the typical dishes contained meat, so I had a simple casado consisting of rice, beans, salad and pico de gallo.  I also got to try ceviche platano, which is plantains with sweet pepper, cilantro, onion and garlic in a sauce made of vinegar and lime juice.  It was delicious and reminded me of my grandma’s famous vinegar cucumbers! Chad stepped outside the box a bit with his mondango soup… Sopa de mondongo is a soup made from slow-cooked diced tripe (the cleaned stomach of a cow) and, vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, carrots, cabbage, celery, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic or root vegetables originating from Latin America. 

We had a great independence day and were very happy to experience it with Marian and Julia as our own personal guides :)