¡Día de la Independencia!

This whole week there are independence celebrations going on, but tonight (Sept. 14th) is the official start of the independence which also goes through tomorrow.  There is so much energy around town with kids dressed up in their marching band attire going to and from their parade, the discotecas fill up with the young crowd for dancing, and at midnight there is a big fireworks show in Parque Central.  The feria is also going on through this coming weekend where people can go on rides, play fair games and eat lots of street food.  It's a ways away from my school and homestay, and I decided to stay away from that huge crowd of people, though I heard it was enjoyable.

Children in the parade

Talking to my host family about all the festivities going on this week, they seem pretty burnt out about it.  There are desfiles or parades almost every day, for the pre-primary kids, the primary kids, the secondary schools, the high schools, and the high school bands.  Each parade lasts 4 or 5 hours.  They never start on time and there always seem to be more kids than anticipated.  I can only imagine what it's like for families with 3, 4, or 5 kids of all different ages in all the different desfiles.  There is some pretty tough rivalry between the two largest high school bands.  They both come out and parade through the Parque Central just after the fireworks show at midnight and they were talking about not even having them do the parade because of physical fights that happened between them last year.

Fireworks at midnight

Bandas on parade

Selling sweets in Parque Central

A group of students and I all went dancing at a club before the fireworks, mostly merengue music, which I love.  It's amazing how many different and interesting people you meet on a night out in a foreign country, people that normally probably wouldn't hang out together if it weren't for our connection as travelers.  Our group just kept growing, and by the end of the night we were all exchanging emails and names to find each other on facebook so we could share photos.



Because of the late night, the next day I decided not to plan anything and studied and read a little at a café with another student.  I felt like it was one of the few days where I could sit back, be on my own schedule, and just take a deep breath.....aaaaaahhhh.