Jura a la Bandera

(This was from last week...I forgot to hit publish!)

Javier and I got to witness a really interesting ceremony at school on Friday.  It was called Jura a la Bandera (you'll need to google translate that link).  At this ceremony, all of the 12th graders reaffirmed or pledged their allegiance to Ecuador via the flag.  My 9th graders just made the cut to get to attend the program, so I got to watch! (In between my 'you-better-stop-talking' glares and hand gestures towards to the stage to remind my students which way they should be facing....)

I took some pictures with my phone, but it's somewhat difficult to see.  Below I captured the students bringing in the Ecuador flag, Quito flag and Colegio Menor flag.  The top 10 students (ranked by GPA) in the senior class are honored with marching in the flag.  They also each received a medal and were recognized by the director of the school.  You can see that many parents were in attendance (sitting in the bleachers facing the students carrying in the flags.

I thought the addition of the red, blue and yellow flags at the back of the gym looked cool too!

In addition to singing the anthems (both Ecuador's and Quito's) and listening to some speeches (the school Director, a teacher selected by the students and the valedictorian all spoke) each student kissed the Ecuadorian flag as a sign of their loyalty to Ecuador.  All the speeches were in Spanish, but the valedictorian got a standing-O from some of the teachers.  Apparently she talked about how every Ecuadorian was unique and different and we should be proud and embrace our differences because they are what makes Ecuador awesome.  I know she mentioned homosexuality specifically (that Spanish word is easy enough to translate) which I thought was a pretty brave thing to do in this very conservative country!

You can kind of see the student in front about to kneel to kiss the flag. 

After the top ten students each kneeled before the flag, they set up 6 stations (or flags) for the rest of the students to process up and kneel as well.  The students had obviously been coached on what to wear; boys in suits, girls in white blouses, skirts and black stockings.  They each looked very grown up (especially compared to my little 9th graders) and seemed to take the ceremony quite seriously.

You can kind of see the 6 flags and students about to kneel before each flag!

It was a really neat thing to get to be a part of.  I think its an example of one of the reasons we both really wanted to come and live in another country.  We're hoping to understand and in some ways participate in another culture and a new perspective for us.  Patriotism is obviously something you'd find in any country, but it was cool to witness such a emotional tradition.  The music and pride radiating from the parents' seats got me a little emotional as well.