Nicaragua: On the fringes

Imagine if on the fourth of June, all schools in the United States held assemblies to mark the beginning of an entire month dedicated to patriotism. In the following weeks, students would occupy every weekday afternoon (and sometimes Saturdays, too) with drum practice. Often times class would be interrupted for drum practice as well. Parents would set aside their earnings to pay for outrageously ornate parade outfits which would be utilized at the pinnacle of the patriotic month: a parade on the Day of Independence. 

That is pretty much how the story goes around here. We've been "haciendo patria" since mid-August, and the 14th and 15th of September marked Independence Day in Nicaragua. These dates of Independence are also shared by the other Central American countries, as the entire region declared its independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. Two years later, Central America separated from Mexico. In the years following that, each respective Central American country (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) broke away and became its own nation. 

The following photos are bits captured from the parade in my town on September 14th:

While a month of listening to drums has been fun, I am looking forward to getting back to a "normal" school schedule for the remaining three months of the academic year.