Fourth of July party

We got up, dressed in our patriotic garb, and headed to the Cerviceria in Alajuela for the annual Fourth of July party, sponsored by the American Colony Committee. The party started in 1977 and has grown every year. We went in 1998 with Damian and Lisa, and at that time it was at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence. Now it’s at the Cerviceria, which is basically a huge fairgrounds owned by the Imperial Beer Company.

Thousands of people attend every year. You have to be a U.S. citizen (they checked our passports very carefully at the gate) or the immediate family of a U.S. citizen to attend. So there were a lot of Ticos there, but there are all kinds of Gringos there as well. There are tourists who are just here for short vacations as well as Gringos that have lived here for years and years. Some are pensionados (people who retire to Costa Rica and live off their pensions from the States). Some have family members who are Costa Rican…like me. And some Gringos live and work here. We even met an archaeologist that studied at Arizona State University! He works here and is married to a Tica. It’s neat to hear the different stories of where people are from and what brings them to Costa Rica. Everyone has a story. I was watching the kids ride a ride and the guy beside me told me he moved here eight years ago from the Michigan area with his family to do missionary work.

The grounds are filled with tents offering all kinds of free stuff. Free Imperial beer, cotton candy, Coke products, popcorn, cole slaw from KFC, frozen yogurt from TCBY, coffee and cappuccinos from Café Britt, bagels, and of course hot dogs. Thousands and thousands of hot dogs handed out in a continuous stream from a huge tent. There are tons of games for the kids, like water balloon tosses, 3-legged races, sack races. There’s a fishing type game, where the kids put their fishing line over a wall and “catch” some goodies. There was square dancing (oddly enough, all the dancers were Costa Rican!).

About midway through the festivities, everything shuts down for the flag-raising ceremony. Two marines in full dress raise the flag, then everybody sings the anthem and says the pledge of allegiance. In respect for our host country, the Costa Rican anthem was played first.

Cristina wore a Florida Gators T-shirt and Gator visor. I had on my 9/11 Gator shirt with the American flag (sold at the Swamp the week after 9/11 for everyone to wear to the following football game, to show solidarity). We saw many other Gators at the party, more Gators than Seminoles I’m proud to say.

While Isabella was swinging, a photographer from the Tico Times (largest English language newspaper in Latin America) took some photos of her. We look forward to checking out this Friday’s Tico Times to see if her picture gets published.

Towards the end of the party (it’s starts at 8 am and is over at noon) we made our way towards the dance floor, in front of a live band that was playing a mix of rock, blues, and funk. They were really good. Those on the dance floor (including Ramón and Maritza) were having a great time “cutting the rug,” as we say in the South.

While the dance floor rocked, Alex and I were tossing a little rubber ball back and forth. Sofia joined in and it turned into a midified version of monkey-in-the-middle. A cute Tica (probably in her early 20’s) was hanging out at the Imperial booth where Alex was catching the ball. She started playing with Alex and getting him to throw her the ball. Pretty soon, she was in the thick of our game, playfully fighting to get the ball before Alex did. I jokingly told Alex later that he found a girlfriend at the party and he said vehemently “No I didn’t!” When I explained that she was kind of a friend and she was a girl, so she was a girlfriend, he bashfully conceded agreement.

Alex playing with his girlfriend

Ramon had had a good amount of beer so by the time we left, he was ready for a nap. In fact, after dancing like a college kid, he fell asleep on the dance floor as the stage was being dismantled and everyone was leaving. We kidded him heavily for that. The whole ride home with Chino, as he would nod off, Cristina would poke him in the ribs and say, “Wake up, Viejo!”

Back home, we chilled out. Stuffed on hot dogs and soda (or beer in Ramón’s case) we certainly didn’t need any additional lunch. We thought the Sheridans were going to experience their first Fourth of July party in Costa Rica, but they had some kind of appointment concerning their residency, so they didn’t make it. They did come by the house afterwards and got the scoop on the festivities.

While the Sheridans were there, we shared our new plan. Instead of going to the Guanacaste area for a few days, we would spend a night or two at the Sheridan’s house in San Ramon. They only live about an hour from a Pacific beach, so that could be a possibility. They also have a park with a waterfall right near their house. Plus, it would be nice to see where they live, and maybe go see the property they bought where they plan to build a house.

We found out that Ricardo was waiting to get a new spare tire for the car he was loaning us, but he wouldn’t be able to get it until after work at 5. So we would have to wait a little longer for a car.

Later that evening, we found out that Ricardo couldn’t get the tire before the parts place closed, so he’d try to do it the next day.

For dinner, we treated Ramón and Maritza to an Italian meal at Restaurant Ana, a place in San Jose we’ve eaten at before. It’s kind of pricey by Costa Rican standards, but the whole meal for 7 of us cost about what we pay at Olive Garden for the five of us. And this meal included desserts and coffee! Cristina wasn’t crazy about her pesto gnocchi, and Sofia’s ravioli was a bit undercooked (she likes the Yaki’s ravioli better!). But my lasagna was delicious. I even got a cappuccino for dessert.

Dinner at Restaurant Ana (Sofia's food was late arriving)

While we waited for Chino to pick us up, the kids and I played the statue game, where one person gets moved around into whatever pose the “artist” puts them in. I made Sofia into the statue of liberty (it was the Fourth of July) and I made Alex a monkey.

The Statue of Liberty