Ready To Celebrate

Monday is Guatemala's Independence Day.    It is one of the biggest holidays of the year.  Guatemalans are very patriotic and when it comes to celebrating their Country they go all out.  It's a festive time of the year and a fun time to learn about the County we live in.    Cruz has been studying the flag, national flower, national bird, music, and culture of Guatemala at school lately.  I love that he is learning those things.  They kicked off their celebrations on Wednesday afternoon with a patriotic school program.  There were three schools who participated together.

We were to arrive at 3:30 for the outdoor program and wouldn't you know it started to rain about 3:00.  It pretty much rained the rest of the day and night.  But, the show must go on...

On the way we stopped by the gas station.  Here are Cruz and David waiting for a short break in the rain to run back to the car. 

Here's Ben singing "rain, rain go away.." in the car while we waited at the gas station.

The children starting to line up.  You can barely see the top of Cruz's blond head here.

Which one of these is not like the other ones?  HA

Some of the students saluting the flag as the National Anthem played.

The program highlighted all things Guatemala and included music, poems, and dance.  Here are some of the older students doing typical dances.

And here is a video of them in action-

 

We were all pretty wet by the time the program ended.

Look at that smile.  You think the rain bothered him?  No way!  He had the time of his life (all the kids did).

me and my little school boy

We came home and I fixed tostadas for supper.   It was tostada shells, with a layer of refried black beans, taco meat, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, and a side of guacamole.   Cruz said, "mama, these are delicious!".  Yes, they were.

I now have my decorations up.  Our flag is flying and the balloons and streamers are hanging.  My holiday menu is planned.  The marimbas are playing and the school bands are warming up.  Kids are getting their costumes ready and torch runs and parades will soon begin.  It's going to be a fun weekend around here and we can't wait to be a part of it and take it all in!