Fiestas

Fiestas Patronales are all the rage in Nicaragua. Every town has its own patron saint and when the day comes to honor that saint, the town goes all out. And not just for that one day. Like most holidays, Nicaraguans try to stretch out the party for as long as possible. I was lucky enough to experience the fiestas in my training town before moving out. The actually date of the party was July 24th but there was something going on for about 3 weeks before. I often wondered if they never got tired of carrying Santa Ana around the streets. I also wished they got tired of setting off fireworks at 4 am. The final weekend of the fiestas was absolutley amazing. The best part was seeing my 10 year old host sister and her cousins dressed up in beautiful marimba costumes and dancing all day long with the parade throughout town.

I wouldn’t mind if Americans celebrated the way Nicaraguans do.