Bailes and Bombas!

Guanacaste Day is a Costa Rican holiday celebrating the annexation of the Guanacaste province from Nicaragua in 1824. Guanacaste is the north-western part of Costa Rica, and is kind of like the "Texas" of Costa Rica with a drier, warmer climate, lots of cattle and cowboys, and a different accent too.

Our school put on a big presentation and we had the opportunity to participate in the traditional dances (mainly because Jamie's teacher put it all together) and hey, why not? It was super fun! The following night we danced them again in the street for the local neighborhood while they enjoyed tamales and chalupas.

Bailes tipicos -- simply meaning traditional dances -- are done with the big flowing skirts, ruffled blouses, and of course a big flower in your hair. In our dances, Jamie's group wore floral patterned skirts, representing the "rural" Guanacastecan woman who cooks, cleans, and works hard in the home but still dresses up and puts on aires. The women in white skirts represent the city girl from San Jose.

Bombas are traditional rhymes or short poems that are shouted back and forth as either fun flirts or taunts (usually with reference to mother-in-laws). Nathan shouts, "If all the men ran out like the silver runs out the women would be left mooing like cows!" and his partner responds, "If all the women ran out like the gold runs out the men would be left braying like bulls!" (Sounds better in Spanish)

For the finale, the men take on the "Toro" in the ultimate bull fight!

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