Let freedom ring!

September 15 is the Guatemalan Independence Day and we had the day off from school. Mid-week day off? Yes, please! The days preceding were filled with lots of schoolwide activities: dance performances, marching band and getting ready for the holiday. On Tuesday, the 14th, we had a day filled with special events. There was a display set up near one of the main offices. A lot of the children came to school dressed in the colors of the bandera (flag), which are blue and white or came in tipico ropa (typical clothing). An interesting comment made to me was that most children make fun of tipico ropa every day out of the year, and the people who wear them (Mayan) but on this holiday, we all embrace that which we normally disdain...



The day started out with the running with the torch.



Next we sang the national anthem and raised the Guatemalan, US and CAG flags.


After recess, our class (along with the other EC classes) participated in a schoolwide parade. We walked around campus and chanted "Guatemala, Guatemala." Normally this breaks my "no-chanting-unless-we're-at-a-sporting-events" classroom rule, but I figured it was a special occasion.


When we returned from the parade, moms had set up our classroom into five different food centers, with typical Guatemalan yummies to try. Here the kids are making rellenitos - plantains with beans in the middle and then dipped in sugar.


This center was the atol de elotes (corn drink). It was warm, sweetened with cinnamon, floating with corn and interesting. I liked it but most kids didn't.


The kids loved making guacamol (no e). I watched one kid mash up avocado, dump 3 scoops of salt on it and squeeze a dash of lime. He mixed it all together and ate it with a spoon.


The tortilla were homemade, doughy and crispy and the kids loved them!


The last center was the tostada center where we also had Rose de Jamaica, a juice flavored with petals of the jamaica. So good! You can see the petals scattered on the table.


I made sure to try every center but the tostada was my favorite!


And what did we all do the next day, to celebrate the holiday? We all went to the mall and had massages. :) Tired teachers needed a time of pampering.