Entertaining Angels: El Festival de la Buena Cosecha

August 15th, 16th, and 17th was a weekend of celebration here in Okinawa. What were we celebrating? 60 years since the founding of Okinawa! When I first told people I was heading to Okinawa Bolivia, the usual response was "you mean Japan right?". Well everyone would be correct that Okinawa is an island in Japan, but it also is a Japanese colony located in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. In 1954 the Bolivian government gave a land incentive to the people of Japan. This caused a migration of the Japanese into Santa Cruz, Bolivia where they began to farm. The area that they lived in they named Okinawa, which consists of 3 colonies. We live in Okinawa Numero Uno. When driving outside of Okinawa to any of the communities we visit or to the other two colonies, one sees nothing but farmland with various crops, the majority being wheat, soy, sugarcane, and corn. The views on these roads are absolutely breath-taking! When looking at old and current pictures, it is incredible to see how far Okinawa has come over the last 60 years. The majority of the farms are owned by the Japanese, but the Bolivians usually work on the farm.
Every year the Bolivians and Japanese come together to celebrate the founding of Okinawa. You can play carnival games, families set up food huts, there's always music for dancing, pretty much the formula for having a good time. Friday was spent watching the parade, eating in the plaza, playing with the kids, and watching the Miss Okinawa pageant. One of our friends, and a senior at our school, competed in the pageant. Saturday was again spent in the plaza. We ate at the hut of one of our friends, played foozeball with the kids, and gathered around the bleachers for the next event. In the afternoon, everyone gathered around the bleachers outside of the Japanese school to watch the dancing. We watched both traditional Japanese and Bolivian dances. Some of the dancers were professionals, and others were our kids from the high school. Following the performance was a night of dancing in the plaza. The last day of the festival consisted of a moto race on the outskirts of town. After the race we went to Confirmation classes and then it was back to the plaza for one final night of dancing with our friends. This last night in the plaza I was dancing with someone who started telling me about the SLMs he had for teachers. He went on to tell me that he's studying computer engineering and is discerning to become a priest! It was an incredible weekend filled with culture, play, friends, and memories! Enjoy some of my pictures of the festival below!