independencia

well, even though it´s a month after the fact, i have photos from last month´s independence festivities. they are much like the previous photos i´ve posted of the parades and fiestas, but they are unique all the same. i have to tell you, i´m so glad independence day is over! for about 6 weeks prior to independence day (the 15th of september), the only sound you hear all day and every day is the sounds of drums. playing the same four songs over and over and over again. practicing for the big parade. there are three schools here that have bands and so it seems as if every minute of the day is filled with one band or the other practicing their tunes. apaneca is not big, so the sound of the drums all together resonates throughout the whole pueblo making it impossible to escape. you get so used to the sound that when you realize they´ve stopped, you feel like you´re living in paradise. bless ´em though, those hard-working, drum-playing kids!

























the last night in september, they close out the ¨mes de la independencia¨ with another parade (same as the one on actual independence day) and they carry these fuel-lit torches. i can´t think of anything more dangerous (except for the catholic church´s pyrotechnics display during the fiesta de patronales) than a bunch of kids with lit torches marching through town. but there were no disasters, so i suppose it was all a success!

these are pictures from the independence day celebration at my school