Costa Rican Independence Day - September 15, 2015!

Happy Independence Day to Costa Rica and all of Central America! The independence is celebrated on September 15, along with all the countries in Central America, commemorating independence from Spanish Rule in 1821.


My favorite two events include the running of the torch and the "Desfile de los faroles," (Lantern Parade).  They are both symbolic events to represent the sharing of the news of independence back in 1821.

The running of the torch has taken place for many years, leading up to September 15 - people take turns running part of the trek with the torch across Central America.  The oldest class in our school, "undécimo" (11th grade), represents us and runs with it, starting at about 11:00 pm.

Our family sleeps through that event, but we have participated both years in the "Desfile de los faroles," on September 14.  Lots of families parade together through Santa Elena (and other communities throughout Costa Rica) at dusk.  Children can make faroles or buy them, and that is our favorite part! This year Carlo made a rabbit out of a milk box and it lit up with a tiny flashlight.  Sarah made a horse scene painted on her pasta box.  We ran into lots of friends as we walked up and down through Santa Elena.

Our school (Cloud Forest School, or the CEC, Centro Educativo Creativa) celebrates independence each year by participating in the Santa Elena parade on September 15 - we have students from 1st-11th grade marching together!  It includes the big band-

folkloric dancers-

baton twirlers-

fan dancers-

and the minibanda-  

Gilbert played bass drum again this year in the big band.

Sarah danced with the folkloric dance group. (That's Gerry in the background. :).

Carlo joined the minibanda which I participated in leading also.

When it was all over, we went out for lunch to celebrate our Independence Birthday - Gerry's!

El Santuario de Colibri (Hummingbird Sanctuary)

Today we walked (for about 1 1/2 hours with a lunch stop on the way!) to the Hummingbird Sanctuary.  The hike was tough but worth it.  While we were surprised the hummingbirds were coming to feeders rather than seeing them just in the wild, we still enjoyed the quantity and variety of the little buzzing birds.  You can actually hear the buzzing and feel the breeze their wings make when you are close.  We put our fingers up to the feeders and they would rest on our finger to suck the nectar.  It was pretty special!

Sometimes you have to look really carefully to see the hummingbirds in the photos.  There is one by Gilbert's hand and one by Liz's head - can you see them?

Then we bought a special treat to compensate for the longer than expected hike - chocolate cake!

We rode the bus home - caught the last one heading back.  It was an orange school bus and the kids sat all the way in the back and absolutely loved the bumpy ride!  We don't ride in vehicles here so that in itself was a treat! 

Good morning from Monteverde!

With the rain comes these beautiful rainbows!  This was our greeting this morning from our front window that Sarah captured with her camera!

Exploring our "backyard"

Behind our house there is a huge dropoff, so we have found a path that takes us down...and look at the wonder we have behind our house - our own little rain forest!

We decided to travel through the stream rather than the path, slippery fun!

We were pretty pleased with our Saturday afternoon stroll, wet feet and all!

Welcome to my new blog and hometown - Santa Elena!

Our family has arrived to our new home for the next two years - Santa Elena, Costa Rica!  I wanted to share the views from our front room, where we spend a lot of our time.  Can you see why?  This is the town of Santa Elena, which is all part of the area called Monteverde. Perspective is bizarre to me because it looks quite far away but we can walk downtown in about 10 minutes.

This is the road we walk to get downtown.  Today is the first time we could see the bay - it's like it magically appeared, but that's how it works with the clouds :).

Even empty lots are green here!

This is a house next to us, and look at the cloud cover.  It rolls in and out quickly around here!  

 So these are our daily views!  

In terms of getting out, we have walked quite a bit, both to town and to our new school. We also hiked a trail at school in the rain forest.  All walking is hiking, because it really is always up or down!  And it is definitely the rainy season, because it is either misting or raining hard, with only occasional breaks.  It is also really windy at times, but a jacket is enough.  I love the mist - it is like the mister at the zoo and feels so gentle and light.  I even take my raincoat hood off during the mist. :)

More coming soon.....