{"id":755,"date":"2011-08-23T06:21:28","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T10:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/?p=755"},"modified":"2011-08-23T06:21:28","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T10:21:28","slug":"our-citys-55th-birthday-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/2011\/08\/23\/our-citys-55th-birthday-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Our City’s 55th Birthday Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trying
Trying to squeeze a few more in the chapa...<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday was a holiday to commemorate the city\u2019s birthday so we asked our friends Michel and Margarida along with Jordina if they would be willing to accompany us into the city to observe and participate in some of the special activities. We left to catch a ride on a chapa around 8:00 am. We got off the chapa at the \u201cPark of Heroes\u201d where we followed the crowd to the center where we waited for quite a while for the ceremonies to begin. \u00a0After about an hour or so a ceremony began in which local authorities, military personnel, local police and special guests walked up single file to\u00a0place flowers at the foot of a memorial for those who had fought for independence.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7384\"
Let the ceremony begin...<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u00a0military band played various numbers through out the whole time as the rest of us stood and watched. After it was over we took some time to walk around the park, take some pictures and then we hiked through the city by all the closed stores and shops to the municipal building where the rest of the activities would take place. \u00a0By the time we arrived the crowd had pretty much closed off the view for about everyone but me and those who were able to climb up in one of the trees that lined the street. \u00a0I was very thankful for my height as I was able to stand behind everyone and hold my camera up over my head to get some photos.<\/p>\n

\"The
The gathering of leaders and special guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The local police force paraded in front of the local dignitaries and special guests after which each one was given an opportunity to greet the crowd. Once the final greeting was made there were some groups that presented cultural dances for entertainment. The morning festivities ended around noon so we headed home. \u00a0All in all it was a fun morning where we were able to get to know the city and some of its history better, interact with our new friends and definitely enjoy more African culture.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa
Lisa at the memorial of the Heroes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Note
Note to self...don't agree to take kids picture near a special site again<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Face
Face Painting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"None
Lisa with Jordina & Margarida<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Best
Best seats in the house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"All
All dressed for the occasion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"No
No city celebration complete without Clowns...<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was a holiday to commemorate the city\u2019s birthday so we asked our friends Michel and Margarida along with Jordina if they would be willing to accompany us into the city to observe and participate in some of the special activities. We left to catch a ride on a chapa around 8:00 am. We got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jonathan-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}