Independence Day

I woke up around 8 am, showered and got dressed and ready quickly, and had breakfast - ham, egg and cheese sandwich and coffee. I ran out the door to DL's house to meet her and AK to go see the Independence Day parade at 10 in the middle of town. We walked to the white church and met up with a couple of other amigos. We hung out and waited for the parade to make its way to us, and sure enough, it did! The parade consisted mainly of bands from schools in the area and groups dressed in traditional costumes that were dancing and stuff. Not a lot of variety, but still entertaining. However, all of the band-playing and drums made me miss football games and the band and music there!

Some of us walked around town for a bit just so that we wouldn't be standing still for so long. We ended up back at the park and sat under a tree for a while, people watching and just taking in the sights and sounds of the festivities around us. It was quite pleasant! After a while we decided to walk around a bit, and we stumbled upon a THRIFT STORE. MSG had been talking about some thrift store finds since she had been here, and we were glad to find the store!!! All of us got something. I found a sparkly shirt and a fun dress, and the others found some interesting items too. AK found a SOUTH CAROLINA shirt, though he didn't buy it:

After the thrift store we walked home and parted ways. I went to my casa and did some work and had some lunch - spaghetti with hand-shredded parmesan cheese, just like the old days at Wellington, daddy, when we would have spaghetti every Sunday afternoon and we would shred the cheese ourselves! Anyway, it was delicious, and I ate my whole plateful!

I continued doing some catching up on e-mails and homework and such and waited to head to the birthday party at 3. We arrived promptly at 3 and were some of the first guests there. The young cousin whose birthday it was turned 6 years old, and he is probably one of the most adorable little kids I have ever seen!!! We all sat around (as we did for most of the party) and just talked and spent time together. I met a lot of people, most of whom I can't remember their names, but everyone was nice! They served a LOT of food: a soup of carne (meat) that tasted like a mix of chili beans and barbecue - DELICIOUS, empanadas with pollo (chicken), some other knick knacks, and my new favorite snack item - ROSQUILLAS. They are like cookies rolled up into a pretzel shape. Last but not least, we had queque, or cake. It was a Transformers cake to go along with the party them. DELICIOUS, of course! We left just after 6 and headed back to the casa. AM and I started doing some homework, and then I called KL to see if she still wanted to come study. She was just up the road at MO's house, so she hopped down the street to my casa! We all studied together and had popcorn!!!

When it was time for KL to leave, I asked AM if we could call a taxi. She said we could, but she said I would have to do it! So, I did it. Somehow I managed to, and the taxi showed up moments later. I'm glad I got over that hump! Now I can llamar (call) taxis!

I went to bed soon after! What a great day it was! So glad that we had no classes and that I was able to celebrate with the ticos!