Advertisement
Published: September 20th 2008
If you think the 4th of July is big, you should visit Honduras the 15th of September. Or the 14. or the 13. In Honduras, celebrations start the 13th and go until the 15. Children get almost a week off school. Santa Rita is a town of 7,000 or so, and they had three parades with no less than 5 schools. I had no idea it was this big.
The 12th, all the teachers worked from 12 in the afternoon until after 8, setting up the stage for the events of the following day. I kept thinking to myself, why do we have to do all this, it is just the kids singing and dancing, it's not that important. I was wrong!!
The next morning on the 13th our school was part of the parade along with a pre-kinder and kindergarten. We marched, the children sang songs and danced traditional Honduran dances they had been practicing for a month. They prayed, sang the national anthem, and recited the pledge to the flag. All the parents came to see their children, the street was crowded. I thought, wow, this is really nice, all the kids get to dress up and
dance, it is a good cultural experience for them and for me.
The next day, several elementary schools marched, private and public, as well as one 'colegio', or high school. That day more people showed up on the streets, there were longer speeches, more dances, more bands playing music. They prayed, sang the national anthem, and recited the pledge to the flag again. I though, wow, this is a really important celebration. Every single parent came to see their children in the parade, all the grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends...the streets were filled.
Then the 15th, the actual day of Independence, WOW. The streets were filled once again with the largest high school in town. You would not believe the amout of people that can fit in the center of this town!!!
The kids played music for almost an hour, there were short dramas, pantomime, more traditional Honduran dances, more long speeches....they prayed again, sang the national anthem again, and recited the pledge to the flag again! I think I know the pledge by heart and the chorus of the national athem now.
All this to say, Independence day is a HUGE event here. I did not realize
it was this big. There are no fireworks, only noisemakers, but it is still a weekend where the entire town comes together to celebrate their independece, and patriotism to their country. There are parades in every town and city. The bigger the city, the bigger and better the parade. I saw photos and watched coverage of San Pedro Sula, one of the main cities here in Honduras. The celebration there was so beautiful and probably 10 times larger than the one here in Santa Rita. What a wonderful experience to be a part of, I'm so glad I was here this time of year!
I hope you enjoy the photos of this weekend! Thanks for reading and sharing the experience!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.131s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 41; dbt: 0.1008s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
