Fiesta Sabonera!

This coming week is the celebration of the Guanacaste region's independence from Nicaraugra. Many fiestas will light up the nights. Today, we attended our first authentic Costa Rican fiesta sabonera and horse show! The costumes for the ladies (dancers and riders) were magnificent--brightly colored flowing skirts, each one made from boo-koos of yards of fabric. Friesian horses pranced and strutted, proudly carrying their riders. In typical CR fashion (tico time), the event that was advertised to begin at 4:30 p.m. did not begin until 5:00. No complaints here, though. It was a lovely evening, soft breeze and NO RAIN, so Rob and I soaked in the sights, sounds, and smells.

The participants seemed so proud of their heritage and their country. It struck me that they are just as proud of their country, if not more proud, than I am of mine. We've come to love this land and the gentle, kind, peace-loving people of Costa Rica.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,

A song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;

But other hearts in other lands are beating

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on clover-leaf and pine.

But other lands have sunlight too and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

Oh, hear my song, O God of all the nations

A song of peace for their land and for mine.

Music: "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Words by Lloyd Stone (1912).