Independence Day

OK I'm back. Before I tell you about the parades and stuff since then I was wanted to tell you where we are at so you can find us on Google Earth. We are at the Villas Rio Mar in Dominical. Dominical is in the south part of Costa Rica and on the ocean. Look up the town too, its a really cool place. Our room is fantastic. OK we have had several ask about women, there are some amazingly beautiful women here, no we have not met any to go out with, however while asking a female Policia for directions to Villas Rio Mar Kevin may have got a date for tonight, after she gave us directions she and her partner asked if we would give them a ride to here, which is out in no-where from Dominical, anyway she seemed very friendly towards Kevin and we know what bar/dance club she will be at tonight, so we'll see what happens.

I also wanted to tell you a couple of Rafa stories, the first one Grace told us and happened when they were at one of the big fruit farms, he might live there for 2-3 years at a time so the whole family went. Anyway one night Rafa and Grace are driving back to their house in the truck and Rafa started rubbing Grace's leg, she said "Rafa, we will be home very soon" and he said "Yes we will" then she said "Well can't you wait till we get home?" and he said "What are you talking about?" She said "You keep playing with my leg" He said "What are you talking about, both my hands are on the wheel see?" I can only imagine the scream that followed when she found out that what was rubbing her leg was not Rafa but a bat!

Next Rafa story, this took place when he was about 7 or 8, Rafa has always been very light skinned and had blond hair at that time. His mom being very religious let it grow long so he could play an angel in a certain ceremony every year. He was dressed in a white gown and strapped into a chair on a platform that was carried through town for some reason. Anyway this year he is riding along and suddenly has to go to the bathroom, so he tells them they need to let him down, to which he was told no, they went on for a bit and it got worse so he told them I need to go to the bathroom and they said he would have to wait till the end, so he tried, finally he could not and told them "If you don't put me down, I'm going to shit right here!" He never got to play the angel again.

Now on to the parade. What a time it was. Rafa's house is on a corner so it came down one street and turned at his house and went up another, it actually winds all through town and ends up...well I don't know where. Anyway, we could have watched it all from inside but Kevin and I wanted to be on the street among the crowd, so We and Rafa stood out there. Man was it packed! We were pressed against the house and people were threading their way back and forth through, well through no space at all but somehow they did it.
Rafa told us all about what was going on which really helped. It started at 9:00 am and went until whenever. The entire parade was made up of schools in the area, starting with preschools on up. Each school had a uniform special for this, it each was led by someone carrying the school banner so everyone knew who it was, this was followed by girls like cheerleaders doing some routine followed by a drum and portable Xylophone band, heavy on the drums, each school was also judged on their drum work so they were 'puttin on the dog' and it was cool! Loud but really cool. The band was then followed by all the teachers. There was a great sense of pride in the kids. School after school went by, for over 2 hours this went on. Rafa said the kids start practicing in April for this one thing. And he said the same exact thing was taking place over the whole country of Costa Rica, it stared at 9am everywhere. I must confess I came away with a new understanding of the importance of community and why people who have that understanding are so quick to defend theirs. I was awed by it and wished I could be a part of it.We who grew up in the suburbs really missed out on something that people from say N.Y., Chicago, or the numberless small country towns in America, know all to well. People were cheering and clapping for the schools and you could tell the kids were eating it up. There was also some wild old woman who was in her own costume, she led the parade off and the crowd went wild when she came by, she had more energy than I can describe, she was kissing cops, dancing with the cheerleaders, completely off the reservation! And we all loved it. Kevin took some great pictures during this time and I can't to show them to you...coming soon I promise.

Monday, Kevin and I headed down south, he bought 100 Teak trees from a farm and wanted to see them. When they mature they will be worth about 100 times what he paid for them, so that's part of his golden years money. Anyway that's why we headed south and just by luck it puts us on the beaches.

I'll tell you in the morning about our trip down here (and my run in with the Police) tomorrow morning...and how it went for Kevin tonight.

Till then,
Don