Carolina L. M. wrote to us from Colombia about Love and Friendship Day (El Día de Amor y Amistad)…
Hello! My name is Carolina I am a teacher in Colombia, South America! In schools we do not celebrate Valentine’s Day in February, but we do celebrate Love and Friendship Day the third Saturday in September!
What we do at schools is write down the names of all the students in the class in little folded papers and put them into a bowl or bag randomly so everyone in the class can pick a little paper without letting others know who they got. So it is a kind of secret friend.
It is usual that kids leave some candy on the secret friend’s desk or even anonymous friendship cards. This activity goes on over one week (the second week in September) and then, in the third week of the month, all classes do an activity to exchange gifts so kids are able to finally let everybody know who was their secret friend. Kids enjoy this activity so much because it is exciting for them to discover who was the secret friend. This activity is nice because it involves all the kids, so everybody gets a friendship gift.
In some schools kids buy the gift they want for their secret friend, but in other schools the teacher collects a list of possible gifts kids would like to receive from their secret friend. This way kids have an idea in case they don’t know what to give. The teacher sticks the list on the classroom wall so everybody is able to check what his/her secret friend would like to receive.
Kids also give some chocolate or affection cards to the teachers that day.
That’s the way we celebrate Love and Friendship Day with the kids in schools in Colombia. :)
Carolina wrote about the image: It’s a picture of one card that I liked a lot because it was made for the day of Love and Friendship with recycled cardboard, colorful clay, and a pencil (to outline drawings). Also, other cool thing about this card is that it was stored in a transparent recycled box to conserve it.
Many thanks to Carolina L. M for writing to us about Love and Friendship Day in Colombia! -Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2015 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Colombia, Countries & Cultures, Dia de Amor y Amistad, Friendship Day, Love and Friendship Day, Valentine's Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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February 13th, 2015 at 8:08 pm
Carolina L.M. wrote:
We do have a song that kids love a lot to listen to during September especially at Love and Friendship Day celebrations. The name of the song is “Amigos” which means “friends” in English. It was written and sung by a group called “Enanitos Verdes” or “Little Green Dwarfs” in English. This song is very popular among kids and adults every September.
This is the link from YouTube where you can listen the song:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GYWk3h11d4U
Down below I copied the lyrics in both Spanish and English! I hope you enjoy it!
“Amigos”
De: Enanitos Verdes
No importa el lugar,
el sol es siempre igual,
no importa si es recuerdo
o es algo que vendrá
no importa cuanto hay
en tus bolsillos hoy
sin nada hemos venido
y nos iremos igual
pero siempre estarán en mi
esos buenos momentos
que pasamos sin saber
no importa donde estas
si vienes o si vas
la vida es un camino
un camino para andar
si hay algo que esconder
o hay algo que decir
siempre sera un amigo
el primero en saber
porque siempre estarán en mi
esos buenos momentos
que pasamos sin saber
que un amigo es una luz
brillando en la oscuridad
siempre seras mi amigo
no importa nada mas
porque siempre estarán en mi
esos buenos momentos
que pasamos sin saber
que un amigo es una luz
brillando en la oscuridad
siempre seras mi amigo
no importa nada mas
que un amigo es una luz
brillando en la oscuridad
siempre seras mi amigo
no importa nada mas
And this is the English version of the song:
“Friends”
By: Little Green Dwarfs
The place doesn’t matter,
The sun is always the same,
It doesn’t matter if it is a memory,
Or it is something that will come.
It doesn’t matter,
How much there is in your pockets today,
We’ve come with nothing,
And we will go the same.
But they will always be in me,
The beautiful moments,
That we spent without knowing.
It doesn’t matter where you are,
If you go or if you stay,
The life is a road,
A road to walk.
If there is something to hide,
Or there is something to say,
It will always be a friend,
To know it first.
Because they will always be in me,
The beautiful moments,
That we spent without knowing.
A friend is like a light,
Shining in the darkness,
You will always be my friend,
Anything else doesn’t matter.
Because they will always be in me,
The beautiful moments,
That we spent without knowing.
A friend is like a light,
Shining in the darkness,
You will always be my friend,
Anything else doesn’t matter.
A friend is like a light,
Shining in the darkness,
You will always be my friend,
Anything else doesn’t matter.
Enanitos Verdes is a Rock band from Argentina that was formed in 1979; since then, it reached fame across Latin America, but in 1990, they separated.
Two years later, the group decided to make a comeback so they released an album called “igual que ayer” or “just like yesterday” in English.
In this comeback album, the band wrote a song called “Amigos” or “Friends” in English, which has became really popular in Latin America among kids and adults, since then.
So it is pretty much a tradition especially for Love and Friendship Day! Since it reminds you of unity and friendship even through time or distance.
-Carolina L.M.