Guatemala :): Independencia: Desfile y Fiesta

Thursday is el Día de Independencia in Guatemala! I had Spanish class for about 30 minutes before my teacher and I walked to el Parque Central [Central Park] for the desfile [parade]. The parade was really neat! There were lots of children from all of the schools in Antigua who performed: played instruments, danced, or twirled batons and flags. I took tons of pictures of all the groups (until my camera died). The parade lasted a long time, but I think it was only because they walked so slow :) After the parade was over, we went back to the school and had the remaining hour and a half of Spanish.

[Students carrying flags from their school or Guatemala, etc]

[Super adorable kids in the parade]

[Peace]

[Quetal!]

[These students danced for at least 10 minutes. It was so cool! They get my vote for best outfits!]

I feel like I learn so much every day in Spanish class. It goes from 8 to noon. I realize four hours is a long time, but the one-on-one definitely allows me to learn more at a time! Every day after class I spend at least an hour studying all the new vocabulary and words I learned that day. I feel like I’ve improved a lot so far and it’s only been a week, so that’s a good sign!

Along with watching the parade in the morning, we also attended another celebration for Independence Day. The neighborhood where our professors live had a celebration that they wanted us (the whole SAU group) to be a part of. We helped set up some chairs and took pictures before the festivities began. During the celebration we sang the national hymn, listened to some music playing and a man singing songs in Spanish. We also ate some corn with salt and lime or lemon juice and some kind of corn soup. There were some crazy drinks too. Not my favorite, but good enough to satisfy my thirst :) All part of enjoying and welcoming the Guatemalan culture!
[The National Hymn of Guatemala...real long!]