I thought I would share some pictures and thoughts about our recent experience of Independence Day or Día de la Independencia here in Monteverde.
History
As it is in much of Latin America, Independence Day is celebrated on the 15th of September. Interestingly, that date is actually the date of independence of all of Central America from Spain in 1821. This includes Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (not Panama, which was part of Colombia until 1903).
In the early 19th century, Spain had been having plenty of trouble with political stability in its own right — various uprisings and eventually Napoleon’s older brother Joseph being placed on the Spanish throne in 1808. So various regions in Central (and South) America issued its declaration of independence: (Acta de Independencia Centroamericana).
At the time, Guatemala was the most powerful of the Central American provinces, and the plan was to form a Central American Federation, rather along the model of the United States (so each of what is now Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica would have been states in the federation). A long story ensued, but eventually the various countries went their separate ways. Costa Rica was the last to formally declare independence, on October 29, 1821.
Nonetheless, September 15th remains the date that is commemorated throughout Central America as Independence Day.
Independence Eve: Lanterns, dancing, and music
Independence Day celebrations in Monteverde actually start the evening of September 14th, with a parade of school children carrying lanterns (faroles in Spanish) through Santa Elena. The lanterns are handmade and made from recycled materials.
Preparations begin long before the 14th (we often heard drummers banging away as the practiced around town). At the local high school gym, there was an activity put together for kids to make their own faroles. Traditionally the faroles depicted a fairly small set of national symbols: horses, ox carts, and various animals. I really enjoyed seeing how creative people got with their faroles, I wish I had taken more pictures of them! But here are a few to give you an idea.
Our daughter made this very nifty ocelot:
Some of the faroles we saw were rather amazing. For instance this rather astonishing bus with a functioning front door and luggage compartment!:
Here is a cool scene of two marimba players. (The marimba is the national instrument of Costa Rica, and is popular throughout Central America.)
The parade wove around town and ended up back at the highschool, where various dance groups performed. Here are some pictures of the dancers:
Independence Day Parade: School bands, dancing, and more music!
The next morning we got up early did headed back into Sta Elena for Independence Day proper! These people take Independence Day seriously, folks.
The parade was early in the day (in an attempt to beat the heat and/or rain). We got lucky as the weather was very nice. The parade takes quite a while, as every school in the area comes through, and most of them perform a musical number with more dancing!
And last but not least came the Monteverde Circus, who did some very impressive juggling, stiltwalking, and unicycling.
Leave a Reply