Celebrating Beginnings or Conclusions

Maybe I said this before but as I sit here listening to the music, the parade and such it got me thinking about this. Here the big celebration is on a day of victory. What that means is that while, at the national level, that day is 19 July, here in Estelí the 16th is celebrated as that is the day Estelí was liberated.

In the U.S., July 4 is celebrated because it was the day that a document was signed proclaiming independence. But, I will bet that few people in the U.S. know even what year the American Revolutionary War began and what year it ended. (I confess, I didn't until I just looked it up.) For extra credit, how about the name of the document that officially ended that war.

Maybe I am reading too much into this but it does seem that most people celebrate a day of victory. For example, in Costa Rica, Juan Santamaria day is a national holiday—even if much of the story was made up. (There are no military events related to Costa Rica gaining its independence, and I guess you can't celebrate things that don't involve battles.)

Ok, back to not celebrating. :-)