4th of July doesn’t bring about much of a celebration here in Costa Rica…probably not a surprise to anyone. While I love being here, and am not anywhere close to ready to return to the states….there is something about 4th of July that makes you a little nostalgic.
While I wasn’t born in the US and am not a US Citizen, the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. It is an easy holiday to like…especially when you compare it to the other holidays.
1. New Year’s Eve – AKA “Rookie Night.” It is the one night of the year that has way too much “build up.” People either want to go out with their special someone, or meet their new special someone…and they just dream about that midnight kiss. “Won’t it be magical….” Barf.
Yet the reality is, they spend way too much money to go to an over crowded, over priced “festive location” where they spend half their night in line for drinks and the other half in line for the restroom. It is also the night where people who stay home all year long (read: boring married people) head out for their “one big night” … therefore cramping the style of the pros, and then drink way too much and make fools of themselves. Ick. I would rather have a night in my pajamas on the couch instead. Will someone just come over and make me some dinner?
2. Valentine’s Day – Grossest holiday of all times. Really, is it somehow more special for someone to tell you that they care about you on February 14th with a singing gorilla holding a heart, over priced flowers and dinner at a crowded restaurant? I would rather someone tell me that they care about me on June 3rd while playing a game of cards on my deck. Not a fan of forced affection.
3. St. Patrick’s Day – Ok…if you live in NY or SF (or frankly any major city in the US) where half of the fire fighters are Irish, this holiday is slightly more appealing. I am also a fan of the shamrock stamp they put in your beer on St. Patty’s Day.
However… and this is a big however…this day may actually be worse than New Year’s in the “drunk and crowded bars” category. And what makes it worse is that the Irish start drinking at breakfast, so by 10 a.m. you have drunk, sloppy Irishmen groping you. And by 12:3o p.m. you have wasted, sloppy Irishmen groping you. And by 3:30 p.m. you have inebriated, sloppy Irishmen groping you. And by 5:30 p.m., if you are still hanging out at the bars…well, you are a fool…though frankly you are a fool if you are there at 10 a.m. as well.
I don’t go out on Saint Patrick’s Day. No thanks, I would rather stay home and watch my DVR’d episodes of Judge Judy while lying on my couch. However if someone wants to come over and make me some delicious cabbage, I will not object; though don’t waste your time with the corned beef.
4. Easter – This is one of the more enjoyable holidays for me; especially if you take the whole “Jesus thing” out of it. Really, does he need another holiday?
Cute little bunnies, dying Easter Eggs, baskets full of candy… I am not opposed to any of those things…except for the “peeps candy”… now those things are just gross. I could also do without people dying the fur of real chicks…while I realize it doesn’t hurt them, it is just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. (As are the gray hairs on my own head that I found last weekend…clearly hair dying is appropriate in some instances – esp. for 34 year old babes who find gray hairs).
5. Memorial Day – No question it is very important to honor those who have served, fought and died for our country. I have the utmost respect and admiration for our soldiers, and wish we could bring them home. To me Memorial Day is a day of sadness, especially in recent years during this ridiculous time of war.
6. Labor Day – Nice day for a bbq, I will give you that, and I will never complain about a 3 day weekend. However, while I know it is a day “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers”… our social and economic achievements have turned into a weekend of too much traffic and lots of drunk drivers.
7. Halloween – For anyone who is surprised by what I am about to say, you should spend a little more time getting to know me.
HALLOWEEN SHOULD NOT BE CELEBRATED BY ANYONE OVER THE AGE OF 12.
Unless you consider it a celebration to pass out candy to said children while they are trick or treating… in which case, celebrate away. But only if you are wearing normal clothes, no wigs, no face paint and certainly no masks.
Look people, if you are a grown up, and have a job… or even if you are a grown up without a job…or someone who is old enough to have a job…or know someone who has a job… YOU SHOULD NOT BE WEARING COSTUMES OUT IN PUBLIC!!! If that is what you are into in the privacy of your home, who am I to judge? But please, please, don’t put on a costume and go outside where others can see you. It is weird, it is creepy and it is disturbing.
8. Thanksgiving – (Dia de Gracias in Espanol – Love That!!) Overall, I am a fan of Thanksgiving, you get to eat lots of food, watch football (though the best game is the day after Thanksgiving when the Longhorns play the Aggies), and have a 4 day weekend. What is to complain about there? But nothing really magical happens on Thanksgiving. Unless of course you consider the ice cream/pie combination magical…in which case, it is the David Copperfield of holidays.
9. Christmas – I really wish Jesus would pick just one holiday.
Christmas, the most pressure filled holiday of all (unless you are involved with someone who believes in the hype of Valentine’s Day… in which case I feel for you, I really feel for you).
This is the time of year where there are 1,o00 parties to cram into your schedule, crowded shopping malls and requirements to buy gifts for people who are impossible to shop for (read: every male member of my family… my brother in laws, my brother, my father).
It is also the time of year when you try to put 15 competitive, hard headed family members into one house…. out in the middle of nowhere in the English countryside….with nothing to do in the area…no internet connection…no local restaurants … and only one pub… which is closed for most of the week because it is family owned. Well at least that is what you do if you are in my family.
While in general I love Christmas, this past year made me really embrace the importance of separate hotel rooms…. and hotel bars.
This post may make it seem like I don’t like holidays… which is not at all accurate. The truth is I actually love most holidays, and I certainly love to decorate for them (hence my storage locker in SF that is filled to the rim with tubs full of holiday decorations). However, the point I am trying to make here is that there is really no better holiday than the 4th of July.
What is not to like about the 4th of July? It is simple holiday, usually without family drama, no one wears scary masks, I don’t have to buy gifts for impossible people and no one is preaching the word of the Lord to me. I can simply get together with friends, have a bbq, drink a few beers and watch the beautiful fireworks in the sky. What is not to love about that?
And the fireworks, oh the fireworks. How magical are they?
I love fireworks; I mean really, really love fireworks….especially over the water in San Francisco.
I really was sad to have no fireworks this year. It is the first time I have missed the states in 3 ½ months.
We kind of didn’t really realize the 4th of July was approaching this year. After all, it isn’t as if the stores are decorated with red, white and blue flags, and there are certainly no firework stands on the side of the road. It is probably too wet here this time of year for fireworks to work anyway.
However, as we realized it was the 4th, Linda and Kurt were insistent that the Americans get together for a celebration. Kurt went to the butcher and bought sausages and hot dogs and we had some chips and salsa and a couple beers under the cabana by the pool. However our “grill” was about 6 inches wide and needed a lot of attention in order to produce any valuable outcomes…and it was pouring with rain. Not quite the 4th of July we are used to.
Here are Kurt and Linda celebrating the 4th Tico style. Tiny, difficult grill, small hot dogs and rain coats. Oh, and the balloons you see tied to the pole behind them? Those were left over from the festivities the weekend before in honor of Gay Pride. Seems as though some celebrations are universal. If only legal gay marriage was. Sadly I missed the party, as I was out of town...which I know is very disappointing to those of you who were all of a sudden very anxious for photos.
And while my 4th may have lacked fireworks, I shouldn’t complain… I am going to see fireworks on New Year’s Eve in San Salvador…. Surely I will make up for the lost fireworks opportunity then. And while I may not have fireworks in Manuel Antonio, I do have monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. And monkeys are not a fire hazard you know. Monkeys really do rule.
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