Happy Independence Day! Yes, lucky me, I now celebrate double holidays. Peace Corps will only officially give me the day ''off'' for select U.S. holidays but the Tico holidays might as well be days off as well. Without any activities in town today, September 15th, my pueblo was absolutely dead instead of just a kind and euphemistic ''sleepy''. So I didn't do anything and, for a change, didn't feel guilty for doing nothing. Either way today I would have done nothing and felt okay about it because last night totally justified a descanso, a rest.
About three months ago, not too long after I got to my town, my counterpart suggested that there might be some interest in forming a folkloric dance group in our town. I wasn't really sure about the older kids in town, but I got a good response from the little kids and so we started practicing. My counterpart was the teacher because he's danced baile típico before. It didn't take a week for older kids, some even in their early twenties, to start badgering for him to form a group for them, too.
So for two and half months the group memorized choreography, we removed people who were causing problems and met with parents. I may have also experienced temporary deafness from all the yipping, a strange and addictive folk custom of short, high pitched and long range shouting in Guanacaste. Er, or short range, I guess it depends on how far away you're standing and I was definitely standing too close to people sometimes when they let it fly. Anyway, about three weeks ago there started an idea of pulling together a community event to celebrate Independence Day. I can't teach folkloric dance, but yeah...I can organize a party.
I met with the parent teacher association and the development association (together! In the same room, it was a miracle) and got some time, ideas and money donated to our cause. The ideas were great – we should give a prize to the best homemade lantern. We should get gifts for the little kids that are dancing to encourage them to keep dancing. The offering of time was a blessing because then I didn't have to ask my host sister to help me prepare the sandwiches that attendees would receive. And finally, the money. My counterpart and I went shopping for the sandwich stuff and the gifts the day before the party which would not have been possible without the teamwork of both our Asociación (the development group) and the Patronato (the parent-teacher group).
And it was awesome. Truly. From what I gather, in past years it's just the school kids and the moms that come out to the school, sing the national anthem while holding their lanterns and then everyone goes home. Oh no wait, high schoolers who go to high school out of town have to get the elementary school teacher's signature to hand in the next day to prove they did their civic duty. Then everyone goes home. Not this year. This year, we opened up the town hall, decorated with palm leaves and Costa Rican flags and national emblems. We had close to 100 people come to our town hall at 6 pm. That's a third of my town's population and no mean feat. There were people I hadn't seen before and I thought by now I knew everybody haha.
Just a quick run-down of the activities: the national anthem was sung and people filed out of the building to have a parade with their lanterns around the soccer field. When the parade trickled back into the town hall, one of the boys in our little kid dance group was ready with his marimba and he played songs to entertain the crowd while the dancers were finishing their pre-debut prep. Oh! And there was also a contest for the best homemade lantern – with prizes! Big grin on my face. Finally, the big moment when the dancers came out.
I don't think I've ever felt more like a member of my community. First just the small children came out and I mean, of course the crowd went wild. They danced their two dances with the people hootin' and hollerin' every time the choreography changed. It was great. And then the big kids came out to show what they could do. It was incredible, these guys didn't know anything about baile típico more than three months ago and now they're performing in front of their family and neighbors? The Tico personality shies away from exposition, performance and personal glory and here these dancers are doing just that but it's so great because all the pride that they embody is pure Guanacaste and pure Costa Rica. I mean, if you're going to get over your own sense of shame you might as well go big and show yourself off for love of your country.
It wasn't perfect dancing and we don't have matching uniforms or anything...we're just starting off. But watching them dance I realized that this was more than a celebration of Independence Day as some abstract concept. This group of young people were celebrating lo nuestro, ''that which is ours''. The first baile típico group in my town in a generation. It blows me away the power they have to change their community through the outlets they choose, the power that I crave for them to discover they own.
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