floats, relays, and parades.. oh my!

Happy Independence Day! This whole week has been chock full o' events commemorating Guatemala's 190th year of independence. Here's the rundown..

Monday: Float Preparation

The primary school teachers, English teachers, and librarians (aka yours truly) were in charge of decorating the NPH float for the San Andres Itzapa parade. After a last-minute meeting that took place on Friday, we decided our inspiration to be the famous Tikal ruins. On Monday, we all joined up to decorate heaps and heaps of paper flowers. While we took over one half of the library, the two education coordinators whipped out their artistic talent to paint an impressive mural on the other half of the library.

Tuesday: Torch Relay

It is tradition every year for schools, companies, or really any group of people to take off running as part of a torch relay. The lighted torch signifies freedom and is typically carried while bystanders supportingly throw bags of water at the runners (it's an act of affection, I promise). Our students, as well as us, had the opportunity to be part of a torch relay in the afternoon. We hopped on a bus and drove for a good 40 minutes before arriving at our starting point. Once there, we were off! We may have been running in pouring rain, up steep hills, and alongside a congested highway, but the smiles on our kids' faces proved just how much fun the event could be.

Wednesday: Town Parade

On Tuesday afternoon, we were told that everyone was to arrive to work at 6am to help finish the float before leaving at 7:30am. As someone who enjoys crafts, I did not particularly mind waking up an extra two hours early. That is, until no one else showed up at 6am. haha. The thing Sam, Thayer, Molly, and I were swiftly reminded about is that Guatemalan time does not function in the same fashion that US time does. We ended up waiting until 7:00/7:15am for another soul to show up. It then became crunch time to finish painting the mural, place roses on the float, and tape posters of typical Guatemalan symbols. Luckily, we made it to San Andres Itzapa on time.. phew! The parade ended up being one full of sunshine, marching bands, and surprisingly organized rows of our kids proudly parading through the local town.

Thursday and Friday: No work! Disfruta!