Happy 3rd of July!

Do they have the 4th of July in Great Britain? Of course. Every year, in fact. It comes after the 3rd and before the 5th. Ha ha. But today we celebrated the 4th of July in Costa Rica, even though it was the 3rd. Let me explain.

The American Colony Committee is an organization here in Costa Rica that puts on the annual 4th of July picnic for American citizens living in or visiting Costa Rica. We go every summer we’re here. The first time, in 1994, the picnic was held at the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica. The event has grown so popular and large, that it’s been moved to a large fairground at the cervezaria (Imperial beer brewery). We are not exceptionally patriotic people, and we rarely do much in the U.S. on the 4th of July other than watch fireworks. And maybe eat hot dogs. But here, it’s different.

For one thing, everyone that comes to the 4th of July picnic in Costa Rica has something in common: they like Costa Rica. They enjoy traveling, or they’re working for the Peace Corps, or they’ve retired here, or they’re vacationing college students, or whatever. But the Costa Rica connection automatically binds the thousands of people that get together. It’s also fun because everything is free. You can eat as many hot dogs as you want, or cole slaw, bagels, Pepsi, or coffee, or TCBY frozen yogurt, or beer, or cotton candy, or popcorn. You just go to the tent of the particular vendor and you get what you want. So it’s a bit decadent in that regard. There are games for the kids (and adults). This year they had a mechanical bull (named McGyver), water balloon tosses, sack races, 3-legged races, a volleyball court, and all kinds of little games for the kids (bean bag tossing games, fishing games, etc.).


The reason the picnic was held on July 3rd is because the U.S. Embassy workers only work during the week, and since this is an Embassy function, they hold it on the weekday closest to the 4th. At least that’s what we heard.

There was a huge tent full of booths, like the political parties, Peace Corps, the Shriner’s, Women’s Club of Costa Rica, etc. My father-in-law, being the misguided soul that he is, is chairman of the “Republicans Abroad” club here in Costa Rica. So this year was especially fun for me, since we finally have a Democrat in office again. I visited the “Democrats Abroad” booth and saw they had an Obama t-shirt on the table, so I asked if I could wear it long enough to torment my father-in-law. I put it on, then looked for Wito. He was coming back from the beer tent, so I hid behind a building and told Cristina to get ready. When he walked by, I stepped out and walked up beside him. He thought I was just helping him with the beer, and after Cristina took the picture, I showed him my shirt. Of course he pretended to be disgusted and outraged. It’s all in good fun.



Bella has a particular affinity for anyone in uniform, especially police officers. But she’s equally infatuated by run-of-the-mill security guards or uniformed soldiers. So when the Costa Rican Minister of Security made an appearance at the picnic, Bella rushed up, not to get her picture with the Minister, but to get one with the Minister’s guard, who happened to be the head of the Costa Rican police force. Alex wanted his picture taken with the three Marines who were on hand to raise the flag. After the National Anthem finished playing, Bella, who was on my shoulders, said, “We know that song!”



Towards the end of the party, I met a guy from Miami who is on the Orange Bowl Committee. He doesn’t live in Costa Rica full-time, but he’s lived in Miami for 37 years and comes to Costa Rica 6 or 7 times a year, for rest and relaxation. He had seen my Florida Gators shirt and hat and approached me. He met Urban Meyer at a function before the championship game 6 months ago. While we chatted, I asked if he had any allegiance to any particular university and he said no, he tried to stay neutral. But later on, when I introduced him to Cristina, he said he was a Miami fan. I guess he didn’t want to tell that to me for fear of being ribbed. He must have thought he was safe to mention it to Cristina, but I think she gave him a harder time about it than I would have. I love that woman.

After the picnic in 2006, Bella’s photo wound up in the Tico Times, the English-language newspaper here. Sofia’s goal was to get in the newspaper this year. One way to up her chances was to get decked out with plenty of patriotic gear. Before we left Arizona, she and Cristina went to Target and bought patriotic tattoos, buttons, and even a funky pair of statue of liberty sunglasses. We’ll see whether she makes next week’s issue, but even if she doesn’t, she was already on the TV news here for participating in the youth orchestra. I never knew my oldest was such a media hound.


The picnic wrapped up at noon (it started at 8 am) and we headed back to Pavas, tummies way too full of hot dogs and soda (and other stuff…Alex ate four ice creams!) and skin a bit too sunburned. We took the afternoon easy and I got caught up on my blogs.


Around bedtime, Inesita Fallas came by, an old family friend. She chatted for a while with Cristina, but I was getting the two younger ones bathed and to bed. Plus, I needed to do a little bit more shopping for our big trip to Arenal. We leave tomorrow morning, and we don’t want to have to shop too much up there, where things are more expensive.