Paisley Boots in Costa Rica: Fiesta

Well it's been nearly one whole month since I wrote a blog entry. I had two weeks off at the beginning of July when I went home to the United States. My paisley boots didn't have any adventures there except for when I said a sad, tearful farewell and parted with the paisley boots that have been splashing in puddles with me for the past 6 years (starting my freshman year at Flagler College). Oh but don't worry, it was all with good cause. You may remember in a previous post where I wrote how I slipped in the mud when I was wearing my paisley boots. I decided it may be time to consider a new pair. I searched and searched and although I was unable to purchase the exact same pair, I found a strikingly similar "replica" of my paisley boots. Only because they were so similar was I willing to buy a replacement pair of boots. You see, my paisley boots are not just the namesake for this blog, but they lead me on all sorts of adventures in Costa Rica. I always get compliments on my "botas paisley."

the new and the old

The boots: I'm weird; I know.

Anywho I began this entry to give a recap of our Acto Cívico this past Thursday. This day is the holiday that celebrates the Annexation of Guanacaste. You know, when Guanacaste was added to Costa Rica. A pretty big deal.

Above is the new announcement board at school. It's made from an old whiteboard that was torn. If you're wondering what is going on in the upper left hand corner...well, we are collecting old corks, cutting them up, and gluing them on so eventually we will be able to pin papers to the announcement board as well. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

For this day, the teachers were asked to dress in the "typical" Costa Rican attire, which is blue jeans, a white shirt, and a red scarf. For women it is generally a large flowy skirt for dancing that has several different colors. It's common to see the red, white, and blue skirt since those are the colors of the Costa Rican flag. The women were a peasant type top.

Since I didn't have the female attire, I came dressed as a dude. But I wasn't the only female to do so.

with my friend and fellow teacher, Amy

THE BOSS, eating a Costa Rican favorite

Natalia had the best dress of all the teachers!

When I got to school my sixth grade girls lets me know that my normal low bun just wasn't cutting it for the occasion. It is common to braid your hair and have flowers woven into it, so two of my students did just that. I braided, and they tediously broke apart a flower and wove the stems through my braid. I have to say it turned out pretty neat.

Those are flowers, not corn.

Anyways, we celebrated with some of the typical dances, and customary foods such as corn on the cob and corn tortillas. Here are some photos and videos from the day. Enjoy!