21 de Mayo Celebrations

A friend recently asked me what the "21 de mayo" holiday commemorates in Chile. In a nutshell, I replied:

It commemorates the Battle of Iquique during the War of the Pacific, a battle that Chile lost but in which the heroism of Captain Arturo inspired the nation to eventual victory. The entire country has a holiday but here where the events actually took place, it is a BIG deal!

For the story in all its detail, you can read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iquique

Also, although this was Eva's first parade I realized that Owen did have a "parade" last year as well. His was on a much smaller scale and just down the street in front of his school, but it was adorable. Those pictures and video can be found here:

http://garcias2chile.blogspot.com/2010/05/owens-parade-photos.html

http://garcias2chile.blogspot.com/2010/05/owens-parade-videos.html

And for a walk even further down Memory Lane, this post was from Owen's very first 21 de mayo celebration in pre-school:

http://garcias2chile.blogspot.com/2009/05/celebrating-iquique-style.html