Independence Day

I've never been good about getting things done ahead of time, if anything, I really perfected the just in time manufacturing process when in college. One of my favorite college professors used to always joke that my papers were "hot off the press". So, you shouldn't at all be surprised, that due to vacation and then the Internet issues, I'm only just now reporting on Costa Rica's Independence Day. As a number of my coworkers have confirmed via Facebook, blog posts, or text messages, Costa Rica's clear leader (I mean way ahead of the pack) for most important holiday is Independence Day. Having now been here for more than a year, I've seen the whole gamut of Costa Rican holidays, and Independence Day is just way, way, way more celebrated than any other holiday. 

Independence Day really is a misnomer, I mean it is one day, but the celebration essentially lasts for a week. Classes will be cancelled almost every day of the week that includes September 15th, as assemblies will be held celebrating various aspects of Costa Rica's independence. This is actually quite a task, because, well Costa Rica never really did anything for its independence. Before 1821, the land that is Costa Rica belonged to the Spanish captaincy general of Guatemala. After Mexico fought over a decade for its independence, the rest of Central America met in Guatemala and sent off a little letter to Spain proclaiming independence. Its independence as a country was kind of murky for the next 27 years, before Costa Rica really takes off with being a sovereign country (government institutions, currency, flag, etc.). So, due to this nature of independence, Independence Day and the whole week that goes with it kind of becomes a civic and patriotism week. In fact, I heard more in the assemblies about Costa Rica defending itself from filibustering Americans and border invading Nicaraguans than about independence from Spain. Assemblies also included traditional dancing, which is a big deal here!

Costa Rica's Independence Day Celebration really gets going the day before. School is cancelled in the afternoon as students do a torch run. They reenact the (possibly apocryphal) run of torches from Guatemala to the outlying provinces to announce the independence. I consider it possibly apocryphal because I got various stories about exactly how far into Costa Rica the torch run came, what route it took, and why the delegates at the assembly in Guatemala couldn't have just brought the news back themselves. I was told the torch run started at 12:00, so I rolled into town to watch it at about 12:15, having become a proper Peace Corps Volunteer and integrated into the countries way of not ever starting on time. But, somehow, a miracle occurred, and I had actually missed the students bringing the torch to our town. I rode my bike a bit along the route, and didn't see any runners-so think maybe I was given bad information. 

The next item of business are the lanterns. All the elementary school students make and decorate little wood lanterns and then there is a little parade/ceremony as the kids show them off a bit after sunset, the national anthem is sung, as are a few other anthems. I'm not exactly sure the inspiration for the lanterns, but from what the Internet has to offer, it has to do with a bunch of lanterns being used the night of September 14, 1821 all around Guatemala City to wake everyone and tell them of the independence. I was unable to attend this ceremony as I was at home sleeping in preparation for the next activity. 

La diana (etymology and appropriate translation very uncertain) is an activity which is not uniform across Costa Rica. In some regions, like Sarapiquí, where I live, it's a big deal. In other regions it doesn't happen at all. I was told that it couldn't be missed, by more than a few people, and that I should plan to get to the plaza (soccer field in center of town) around 11 or 12, and plan on being up all night. So, to prepare, I took a nap from six to ten. La diana had been explained to me as people partying to bring in Independence Day. It was exactly that. I arrived at the plaza a bit before midnight, and after cruising around on my bike, found a guy from my community class and the son of a night school secretary. I enjoyed chatting with them, but, in general the first three hours were pretty underwhelming. There was really only a group of 20-30 people in the plaza, and many might be considered "sketchy" by most observers. Around two am, the owner of the copy shop and some of the copy shop employees showed up. These are the guys that call me marsupial, and who had invited me most strongly. Pepo, the copy shop owner, had a cooler stocked full of brews and had the stereos going full blast. It was around two or three that la diana really took off. More and more cars and motorcycles came to the main street of town, more and more people were walking about the sidewalks, drinking domestic brews and generally having a good time. Some of the guys from the copy shop played a concert until they blew out a speaker. Only one fight broke out, and actually amounted just to lots of posturing, and very little fighting. As dawn was just about to crack, I jumped in the back of Pepo's van and the main event started. This is a parade of cars driving among the communities in the area, waking everyone up for Independence Day. The parade goes about 3 miles an hour, and is a good thing, as most drivers have been imbibing in the center of town for awhile, and they can't really shift gears, as one hand is permanently pressed on the horn. One of the hardware stores in town even had a small band playing in the back of a big truck. Impressed doesn't even begin to describe my opinion of the way Costa Ricans bring in their Independence Day.

After a quick nap and cheese stuffed plantains and coffee, we headed back into town for the main event-the Independence Day parade. School bands had been practicing for months (more on that later) to get ready for the parade. Now, Costa Rica is a very relaxed country, it is still developing, and Sarapiquí is a very poor and underdeveloped part of Costa Rica. But, shoot, they don't mess around with the Independence Day parade. All the practice and dedication that I had seen by the various bands was augmented by their sharp uniforms (even the super poor elementary school bands had snazzy uniforms) and the water suppliers. It was a typical hot and humid Sarapiquí day on September 15, so each school had a group of volunteers going around squeezing water into the band members parched mouths. The parade was awesome. Seeing the teachers I work with with their families was awesome. Seeing the community get together (only time of the year they do) was awesome. Seeing my host brother as a flag bearer for the high school band was awesome. Coming down from a long night of drinking wasn't awesome, but seeing students' and teachers' looks as I told them I participated in la diana was awesome. 

*These photos are from Chris and Tarah, a couple serving near me, participating in la diana kind of prevented me from having my camera for the parade. Trust me, I'm more disappointed than you are.