On Thursday September 11th, I played in a fútbol (soccer) tournament all morning with the municipality workers (they are basically in charge of providing and maintaining different services, for example public safety). Fútbol (soccer) is the most popular sport in Guatemala. After that, I got to participate in the tradition of the antorcha (torch). I will explain more about this very important tradition later.
On Friday the 12th, I walked in the desfile (parade) with all the other health workers, the municipality workers, the firefighters, the police officers and all the other employees of the departments (a group that provides a specific service, such as the health department) of Palestina. Desfiles (parades) are another really important part of Independence Day celebrations. All the grades in all the schools of a community usually participate and the students dress up in. Most of the kids either wear traje (traditional dress) from different parts of Guatemala, showing off the diversity of cultures in Guatemala, or representing symbols such as the quetzal, Guatemala’s national bird, or la monja blanca (the white nun orchid), Guatemala’s national flower.
La antorcha (the torch) is my favorite tradition of Independence Day in Guatemala. It involves lighting torches and running through your community and is sometimes done as a relay where the torches are passed off. This run is done in memory of the journey made by horsemen in 1821 to deliver the news of independence through Guatemala, to El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Colegio Interamericano, Guatemala).
