2RetireesInPanama: EL CARNAVAL DE PANAMÁ

Let's get this party started, I think! I am going to start this post today with just a generalization about Carnival in Panama and then I will post what transpired during the five days of Carnival here in Chame. My neighbor, Gus, informed us it will get noisy in our sleepy little gated community here. Noise has never been an issue here. We see and hear fireworks, and for just as quickly as we notice them, they are gone. But today, after running to the gym and then to the store for some last minute grocery items, and of course to our house that's being built (!), we came home to music. Lots of music. Once inside though, we could hear nothing. This will change, I'm sure. I am attributing Carnival to what it is like in Virginia when there is a snow event coming....stock up on bread, milk and toilet paper along with making sure the car is full of gas. Here the shelves will empty quickly of beer though.

***I will add here that for the past few weeks whenever I may have written that Ray and I were running errands, those errands usually involved the beautiful new home Kevin Painter, his son, Carl, and their team of employees are building for us. We hope to be in this home early April.

Back to Carnival week!

Last night, once we returned from Thursday night happy hour at Bahia and eating sausage sandwiches at El Pampero (we wanted to have our friends try this local Panamanian restuarant before returning to Canada, but FYI, there is no beer or wine served here!), Ray checked his "whatsapp messages". We have been in contact with a woman that works with Kevin at Azura to connect with her for the Carnival festivities here in Chame. Her cousin lives right down the road from us. She told us she would be in our neck of the woods tonight (Friday night) for the selection of the Queen. So tonight, after dinner at Los Camisones with Greg and Thea with their dear friends from Florida, Ray and I hope to park our car at Casa Cuarenta and meet up with this girl, her boyfriend and a swarm of other Carnival goers.

***And here is information about Whatsapp http://www.whatsapp.com in case this is an app unknown to blog readers out there. It is an app that allows us to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS (short message service). It's available on smartphones, and most everyone who has a smartphone here uses this app.

Here is what I have read and heard about Carnival in the past week or so. Every town has a Carnival Celebration. It happens yearly forty days before the Christian Holy Week. Las Tablas in Panama is the most famous of all towns to celebrate Carnival. Las Tablas is in the Azuero Peninsula. We have friends that live with their children in this area, so kudos to them for getting out and partying with the thousands of visitors that will keep their town alive for the next five days! It is like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and celebrated on the same dates. It has been celebrated here since 1900, and it always starts four days before Ash Wednesday. Work stops. Employees will not return to work until next Wednesday at one pm, if then. Most will just show up on Thursday. Floats, queens, masks, costumes, confetti, water canons, dancing and drinking are expected daily. In Las Tablas, there is a competition, or rivalry, between high (Calle Arriba) and low street (Calle Abajo) for the best costumes and most creative floats. My friends, the Shermans (The Panama Pause--https://www.facebook.com/panamapause), are on Calle Abajo (low street).

The schedule of Carnivale is like this: tonight will be the selection of the Carnival Queen and her attendants. She will reign over the daily parades and official activities. She will change her outfits at least ten times.

Saturday (tomorrow), there will be a Queen Coronation (she will be crowned). Dancing and partying will go until dawn on the streets and inside bars and hotels. The tradition is "mojadera" or getting drenched in water will start, and in the tropics, getting sprayed by a hose might be a welcome respite. "Cuelcos" is the event where the large water trucks come and blast music and surround people dancing in the street spraying water, and this is where we should expect to get sprayed with tons of water. People in town might also dump koolaid, beer, soapy water or anything else they find nearby on the those walking by and partying. (Mardi Gras with beads being thrown seems a little tame, and is now on our bucket list!)

Sunday, midday, there is a large "pollera" parade. This is Panama's national costume, and thousands of women and girls will be dressed to the nines in their polleras marching in parades.

Monday, it all continues, and Tuesday, the National Holiday, is the biggest celebration day. There will be large parades in the largest of towns, and the party will finish in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Throughout the days, there will be street vendors selling food and alcohol to keep everyone fed and watered, and although this is a family affair, I am told I will see amazing sights. Oh dear.

And just before sunrise on Ash Wednesday, the Queen will lead the last parade. It is a funeral procession known as the Burial of the Sardine. This tradition started in Spain. A symbolic sardine is carried in a coffin by costumed mourners. The sardine will be buried, and this act signifies the end of the partying. It's now the beginning of Lent. The fasting and sacrifice begins in preparation for Easter. This usually concludes on the beach, and crowds will stay up all night to see Carnival to its close.

I have a baseball hat ready, since there will not be any good hair days here! I have my Tervis ready to fill with Seco and juice or Ron Abuelo and Sangria (might as well party and be happy with the best of them). I know to wear things that are bound to get soaked and, for nighttime, I have ear plugs, sleep aid medicaments, and a open mind about this huge party that I am happy to have in my backyard, but I think I am crazy for wanting it to be there, also!