Guatemala's Independence Day 2024

Guatemala's Independence Day is September 15.  It is also the Independence Day for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  Mexico celebrates their Independence Day on September 16. 

In Guatemala the celebration begins many days ahead and includes parades, colorful costumes, music, traditional dance, bands, fireworks, torch runs, and displays of Mayan dress and crafts.  Guatemalans are very patriotic!  You will see flags flying everywhere. It is a beautiful time to be here and help celebrate a country that we deeply love.

 

Our family on Independence Day 2024.  We take a similar photo every year.

 

 

This year the fifteenth fell on a Sunday.  We went into town that evening for the closing parade and fireworks.

 

 

 

 

In the background you can see two volcanoes- Fuego and Acatenango.

 

The flag of Antigua and the Guatemalan flag.

 

Fuego erupting in the distance.

 

 

The flags flying above Antigua's City Hall.

 

This year Guatemala was celebrating 203 years of independence.

 

David and the boys watching the parade of bands around the Central Park.

 

View of Agua volcano from the Central Park.

 

 

 

Here is a video collage I made from the band performances.

 

The finale of the evening was fireworks shot above the City Hall.

 

 

 

 

a video collage of the fireworks

 

 

It was such a fun, festive evening!!

 

A beautiful evening view of Agua Volcano.

 

our family at the Central Park of Antigua

 

We 💙 Guatemala!!

 

We ended the night at San Martin enjoying warm bowls of potato soup and fun drinks like a mango smoothie and vanilla milkshake with sprinkles.

 

One last photo taken by the City Hall that shows the closing celebration.  If you look close, you might just spot us in the crowd.

 

Life Lately September 2023

I began the month of September by decorating the house for fall.  We do not have seasons here like in the States but I still decorate.  Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the colors, the smells, and all the fun that comes with it.  I miss being in the States during this time of year so creating it in my home makes me feel happy.

 

our dining room

 

 

a YouTube video I made of our decorations

 

 

We watch a lot of football on Saturdays.  One recent Saturday night while watching a game, the boys got out their old Magic Tracks and played for the longest time.  They will say they are too old for some of their toys but every now and then they will get them out and play.  It makes me smile.

 

The boys go to a youth group in San Cristobal near Guatemala City on Wednesday nights.  We carpool with another family and take turns driving them. We saw this beautiful rainbow on a recent drive there.

 

I did a lot of baking in September.  I made my first pumpkin pie of the season.

 

I also baked some chocolate chip, pecan, pumpkin bread.

 

a sunset view from our terrace

 

our flowers are in full bloom

 

another view of Agua volcano from our terrace

 

The boys had a blast on a Saturday youth outing to Loops with Union Church in Guatemala City.  They did bowling, skating, go-carts and more.  It was a fun day for them.

 

 

Cruz doing Science a experiment.  His Physical Science curriculum this year is filled with fun experiments. 

 

Here is a video of him clowning around while making a 3D Atomic model.

 

 

having fun with water

 

 

Ben on a recent school day.

 

We celebrated Guatemala's Independence Day on the 15th of September.

 

 

Here is a YouTube video of one of the Independence Day parades.

 

 

We enjoyed a family bowling outing in Guatemala City.

 

We love 1890 Bowling inside Miraflores Mall.

 

 

bowling video

 

 

a video of Guatemala City Zone 10

 

 

We were in four churches during the month of September. Here we are walking up the hill to church in San Rafael.

 

David preached three times in September.  Here he is on one of those times.

 

 

a video of our drive to San Rafael one Sunday morning

 

 

another video of a family feeding their cows in San Rafael 

 

We had a visit from Miguel,

He was our ministry partner when we lived in Chiquimula.

 

 

Lastly, at the end of the month Cruz volunteered to work at a Kid's Day carnival at a church in Antigua.  He volunteered all on his own and spent the day there working. He was responsible for the basketball game.  He had a wonderful time!  It made us proud to see him want to serve.

Guatemala Independence Day 2022

We celebrated Independence Day in Guatemala last week. It is referred to as the Quince because it falls on September 15 but the celebration begins on the fourteenth. Flags fly all over the country and everywhere you look you see white and blue.  The streets are filled with torch runners, vehicles, and sounds of horns. The sirens can last well into the night.  It is a fun, festive time and we always look forward to it.  

Here is a look at how we celebrated this year.

 

For many years I have been making a flag cake on Independence Day.  It has become our tradition. This year we began eating it on the fourteenth.

 

I also always make these blue jello jigglers and put a stripe of whipped cream down the middle to resemble the flag.   It is a simple festive dessert that the boys love and look forward to.

 

On the Quince morning we had a traditional Guatemalan breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs and refried black beans.

 

We took our annual Independence Day family photo.  

 

 My not so little Guatemalan first born.

We had a normal day of school and for lunch enjoyed bean and cheese pupusas.  Later that afternoon we went into town to walk around and watch the bands.

 

There is a new, large quetzal bird statue in our Central Park.

 

We enjoyed some Dunkin Donuts.  We always get the white and blue ones each year but this year also tried a few of the holiday flavors like tamarindo and fig.

 

We stopped by Wendy's for Frosty-ccinos and then sat in the Central Park to people watch.

 

Later that afternoon the bands marched in and began to fill up the streets that line the Central Park.  They are all playing at the same time.  It is crazy loud but oh so fun to see and hear!

 

 

 

 

The streets were packed with people.

 

Cotton candy anyone? 

 

It rained off and on so we did not stay for the whole program but definitely saw enough. 

 

We returned home and ordered Pollo Campero delivery for supper.  Eating that on the Quince is another tradition of ours.   

There is so much that we love about this beautiful country that God has called us to live in.  We are thankful for the people, the culture, and the traditions that make it so special.  Our boys being born here gives us another reason to want to celebrate and make fun memories for them.  We love Guatemala and are proud to call it home.