Almost every country has some sort of national celebration day. Some of these national celebrations are independence celebrations, where countries are celebrating their freedom to self-govern (run their own government) from an outside country that previously had social, political and economic control over them. When another country forcibly takes power over another country this is called colonialism. In Guatemala, there are big celebrations that start days before their official Día de Independencía (Independence Day)!
Guatemala declared its independence from Spain on September 15th, 1821, along with four other Central American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Isn’t it chillero (Guatemalan slang for cool) that they declared independence the same day, all together? I learned a tiny bit about Independence Day during my Peace Corps training, but mostly just the basics, like the date. Two weeks ago, I got to experience my first Día de Independencía (Independence Day) and all the activities that lead up to it!
