 Today is a day of celebration for various reasons. Today marks the midsummer solstice (for those who follow that bit of information). Today also marks my mom’s big 60 birthday. Yup, she’s been walking this earth for six decades. Why is this a big deal, other than the obvious? My mum was born on a night called La Noche de San Juan, a night that is celebrated in Puerto Rico and in other areas of the world. For those who don’t exactly know where Puerto Rico is please refer to the map below.  Image from Google Maps This is a night dedicated to celebrate Saint John the Baptist’s birth and given the catholic background of the Carribean island this would be a night that is included on the social calendar. However, what makes the night so special in Puerto Rico is that the special night is spent at the beach or at the festivities occuring around the island and if you're so fortunate you may get both, festivites and beach, at the capitol of Puerto Rico in old San Juan area. Lots of rituals take place, but the most important of rituals is to dunk in the water about twelve times in an effort to clean yourself of bad luck for the rest of the year. “The Feast of Saint John closely coincides with the June solstice, also referred to as Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere. The Christian holy day is fixed at 24 June; but in most countries festivities are mostly held the night before, on Saint John's Eve.” Although a predomitaly religious "holiday", there are usually (I say usually because...well...corona) a variety of concerts to attend. Fireworks can be seen from afar and the scent of an ongoing grill permiates the island air.
Essentially, it's like 4th of July celebrations with a more religious incentive behind it. I have to be honsest, I don't remember a lot of these celebrations because most of the celebrations I atteneded were when I was a little kid. What I do rememeber is attending a massive gathering with lots of BBQ ribs and going home with beach sand in my hair. I will forever associate my mother's birthday with La Noche de San Juan and the memories that were made whenever we would attend a festival. I hope that things can get back to some form of normal so that others can experience these festivities, but until then I hope you have a Feliz Noche de San Juan. To read about the festivities from my mum's perspective, read her post here. #NocheDeSanJuan #60thBirthday #WildIsadora #Isadoraland
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