12 th of October – Day of the Race / Day of the Cultures / Columbus Day

12th of October is holiday in Costa Rica. Do you know what we celebrate this day? We celebrate the discovery of America because of the fact that Christopher Columbus put his foot on land that day in the year 1492, namely on an island in the Bahamas, which he called San Salvador. Columbus (who was of Italian origin) wanted to proove that it was possible to reach the Indies by sailing west around the world. In that time the Portuguese were already working on a way to reach the Indies and therefore Christopher Columbus needed support to proove his theory. He found support by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain who promised him riches and nobility. Sponsored by the Spanish monarchs, Columbus left the Spanish coast with three caravels and 120 marines and after about 6 months he reached land, which was declared Spanish terrority.
The natives must have been very surprised as much as Columbus and his men because before this time the Spanish hadn´t seen indigenous people nor viceversa. This historic meeting was a mutual discovery and the beginning of the mixtures of races at least on this continent.
By the way, Columbus died two years after his discovery, convinced that he had discovered the Indies.
Today the 12th of October is conmemorated in schools and colleges by presentations of the students representing the meeting of two totally different cultures.