Today in Costa Rica, everyone celebrated Independence Day (even though the actual holiday is tomorrow). There was a lot of celebrating taking place tonight in the schools and in the streets of San Jose. It has been fun learning more about the culture through this holiday and participating in some of the traditional Costa Rican festivities. The other day in the park I got the chance to witness some people dancing around in giant costumes with masks, which I learned is part of the tradition of Independence day. It is common to see people wearing masks and dressing up. One of my teachers said today that the Smurf costumes are really popular this year because of the movie. It is also a tradition to have a parade of lights in celebration of the torch that was brought to San Jose to announce it's independence.Tonight at school there was a parade of lights, singing, and some traditional dancing. Fireworks were also being shot off around the city, which made me smile. I love seeing fireworks.
Tomorrow there will be some more celebrating. Starting in the morning there will be parades in the streets that will last well into the night.
