Happy Independence Day!

Yes, I'm a little late in posting this, but it's been one of those difficult weeks! Independence Day was actually September 15. Many people don't know that the whole of Central America has the same independence day. This is because Guatemala was, at the time, the capital of the Central American province, and word had to get out to the rest of the states by horseback that they had declared independence from Spain. In fact, the bearer of good news didn't actually arrive in Costa Rica until mid-October. But we still celebrate the date of independence as September 15. On the evening before, most cities and towns have a parade of torches, which is where kids and adults alike either make or buy paper lanterns in all shapes and sizes, put a candle inside, and walk around town in a big procession. Some of the lanterns are very elaborate houses, churches, oxcarts, you name it. It was a lot of fun! Especially since we live like two blocks from downtown. Next year we're going to make our own lanterns, though. Here are a few pics from the parade.