This week all of Costa Rica celebrated its country’s independence from Spain which took place in 1821. Every day of this week, in the morning at my school, with exceptions, there was a gathering of grades and teachers where we sang the Costa Rica anthem, puntarenas anthem (the ones that I knew) and two others. Students gave presentations on the country and how it came to be.
The first day, for me, involved the gathering. The second day, for me, I went to a farm or finca, and we played games and did team work exercises with the public high school. It was almost like a leadership day where we also talked about our futures and perseverance, as everyone at the event was graduating this year. It was really a motivating day. I gained a lot from it, and they had a cool magician too.
The third day, in the morning we sang the himnos or anthems and had the gathering, and then the day continued normally. However, that night at about 11 PM, the public high school, Friends School and CEC – my school, all gathered and boarded a bus. We traveled to a town which was about a 2 hour drive away, and we welcomed the local “freedom” torch. The antorcha or torch is the symbol of independence here. It was how the news of Costa Rica’s liberation traveled from Guatemala to Costa Rica on foot lit with a torch. Every year, the Independence Day festivities begin the day before with the reenactment of the notification of Costa Rica’s liberation carrying the “freedom torch”.
About 60 of us were put into groups and when our group was called we ran with the torch for about 10 minutes at a time. We ran all the way back to Monteverde with the torch. Along the way, we met up with different groups in the street and sang a himno. We arrived back in Monteverde around nine in the morning. We all ran together on the last stretch to the finish which was at the public high school. We sang the himnos and had refreshments and celebrated the torch run there. Afterwards, some of us ran up to CEC where the whole school was waiting to celebrating our arrival. We again, sang the himnos, spoke about the antorcha, and witnessed elders dancing traditionally. It was really amazing! Even though we were all exhausted, we put in our 100% all throughout the night to get the torch to our school by 12 noon. This was a once in a lifetime event for me that I will always remember.
The fifth day, was their true day of independence. As I had previously explained in my last entry, at the beginning of the school year we had a choice to join different groups for Independence Day. We could help learn about the history, design the banner, or be in the Independence Day marching band. The band was new to me so I decided to try something different. I learned about 5-6 songs on an instrument called the Lira, which is kind of like a xylophone but with 2 sets of bars.
By Independance Day, September 15, – our fifth day of Civics week, we were all hyped and ready for marching in the Independence Day Parade in Santa Elena. We started at the Centro Comercial and sang the himnos and began our march. It was very cool to be in a marching band, however I was a little nervous at first because the whole town of Monteverde was there watching. As we marched down the streets, and everyone cheered us along, it was a lot of fun! And the sun even decided to come out for us, which was even better as we are in the rainy season now..
Overall, it was a very amazing and memorable week that encompassed the passion and the history of Costa Rica’s independence.
You can visit our schools You Tube Channel to see the Video of our March or click here. Pictures below Courtesy of the CEC School Facebook Page.
