The Acto Civico
Saturday, September 24, is Dia de Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Day. It is celebrating the founding on the
province of the eastern frontier of Bolivia.
In the last 50 years, Santa Cruz has become the dynamic economic center
of Bolivia. It is easy to forget you are
in a third world country in Santa Cruz.
For many years the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center has
been celebrating the culture of Santa Cruz and Bolivia on the Dia de Santa
Cruz. Since it comes on a Saturday this
year, we celebrated on Thursday.
I had to go find a costume. All morning long, the Bolivians I met said I
looked like a Cambita, meaning someone from Santa Cruz. I wonder what I really looked like to them,
because I got a lot of interesting smiles.
Anyway, I loved dressing up since the whole school was doing the same.
By 8:00 people were running all over the place. The school was decorated in green and white,
the colors of Santa Cruz. Students were
everywhere, dressed in an array of traditional costumes. Teachers were busy trying to round up their
students. I gave up with my 12th
graders. They were all there, but none
were I was told to put them. Parents
were arriving and greeting with the required kiss on the cheek. I met my Bolivian family and took a few pictures,
and I ran into a student I taught way back in 1989. I have her son this year.
Around 8:20 we started.
Abishai, Shekinah, and Abraham, 12th graders, raised the
flags of Bolivia, Santa Cruz, and the Learning Center. That was followed by dances or songs from
almost every class. I guess the
pre-kinder were not quite ready to perform, and the 7th and 9th
grade were in charge of decorations and food.
The little ones needed teachers or parents to help. Parents were all around taking pictures or
videos. Everyone was applauding or
cheering. The costumes and time consumed
making this work was amazing, since school started only one month ago.
The three high school dances were of course the best. My 10th graders had been late to
class a few times so they could practice their dance. They performed a dance based on a dance from
Argentina. The 11th graders,
who I am not teaching this year, performed a dance from the mountains. It was one of the most spirited and athletic
dances I had ever seen performed. The 12th
graders, half of whom are mine, performed a dance from Cochabamba.
I have tried to include a few of the colorful dances here.
After the performances there was ample traditional food of
Santa Cruz: empanadas, sonso, tamales (these are not the hot tamales of Mexico),
sonso, cuñapé, and a dozen other things I am not sure what they were.
It was a colorful and exciting day. Now I need some mountain air.
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