by Susannah Kenley.
Marcelo Arroyo, and Alexa Santana, along with all of the professors from the department organized the celebration of the hiloday with an hour of history, contests, music, dancing, and food for students and faculty to enjoy. Students dressed in typical clothing from the region and gave short presentations on the region’s history and cultural traditions to their peers while Marcelo and professor Erica danced the “Punto Guanacasteco” and the “Caballito Nicoyano”.
After the presentations and contests were over, students joined in to dance the “Baile del Pavo” and finally enjoyed “tamales” with “Salsa Lizano”, “cajetas”, and “cas” juice before heading out for the long weekend.

Why do Costa Ricans celebrate this day?

Until the year 1812, then Nicoya (what is today the region of Guanacaste) was an autonomous region that neither corresponded its neighbor of Nicaragua nor Costa Rica. However, in search of representation in the courts of Cádiz in Spain, Nicoyans decided to become part of the nation of Costa Rica on July 25, 1812.
Today, Costa Ricans celebrate July 25th in commemoration of the cultural and economic richness that Guanacaste has brought to Costa Rica including its lively culture, rich farm land, delicious food (like “biscochos”, “tortillas de queso” and “maiz”), music-- especially music of the marimba-- dance, and of course the type of beautiful beaches and forests that one can only find in Guanacaste.