independence day

braving the rain with yvette to see alyssa's float.

turns out she changed sides so we were on the wrong side of the street.

gabriel's magic. one of the designers in town had elaborate costumes.

osmani and ethan watching the parade.

my free beer from the guys on the float.

floats with kegs of beer were pretty popular!

someone was repin america. awesome!

the police keeping people entertained.

this little guy was winning hearts all day long.

independence day in belize is september 21st. (last tuesday)

the way that belize celebrates their independence is MUCH different than our typical 4th of july. on september 20th, the kids go home from school and most of them go straight to bed or rest until the night. at around 10pm there are speeches that are made and there is the singing of the national anthem, along with carnival rides and a big festivity that leads up to a midnight display of fireworks. the fireworks last for about half an hour and then once the fireworks end, a block party begins. the streets are blocked off and people stay out all night visiting with family and friends, dancing, listening to bands, and celebrating their independence.

the way that we spent the day of the 20th once i got home from school went kind of like that... kind of. when i got home from school around 4pm, yvette was cooking like crazy for that night. she had to cater for 100 people that were going to be attending the festivities as guests of honor. so we made cakes. we made shake and bakes. we made ceviche. we were over flowing with styrofoam plates. we cut potatoes. chopped potatoes. and cooked until 11pm. around 10:45 i snuck upstairs to shower, or bathe, as they called it here. they never say shower. but as i escaped the kids twisted my arm into taking them down to the fair since the parents were all busy with cooking and helping. so i showered quick, quick, quick and took the kids to the carnival rides. we were there until midnight and we watched the fireworks there. i saw a bunch of my students at the carnival who were shocked to see me in "street clothes". kinda crazy. around 12:45 we walked back to the house, i put on some make up and got dressed up and we went out. left the house around 1:30am... anora, nayely and her boyfriend fabio were going to take me out for a belizean-style independence day. we went to a club. it was small and not very crowded. it wasn't yet late enough to be going out. ha! around 3am me and anora left the club to go pick up gran ida and take her home. then we went back to pick up nayely and fabio, who had had enough for the night and we took them home as well. as for me and anora, we forged on! we went to another club and this is where the majority of people in orange walk were still hanging out. we arrived at 4am. danced for hours. at 6:30am we were walking in the door and practically collapsed. went to bed for a few hours and then woke up to prepare myself for the parade. the parade didn't really start until 4pm, but i didn't know that. we ate lunch and got changed and made our way out to the street corner where we waited almost an hour before we saw anything at all. the parade is made up of floats from major companies or organizations in belize. some major dance groups and bands come to march in orange walk's parade from all over the country. the parade lasted about 3 hours and although it was cloudy and overcast the entire day, only rained for the last 20 minutes!

i had an amazing time dancing and celebrating with my belizean family!

thanks guys, for an amazing couple of days!

love to all that are reading!

i miss you.

love,

me