Boys in sombrero panameño and girls in pollera, doing baile típico.
It’s November, which means it’s country pride month. The kids have maybe 10 or 15 days of school this month, since there are so many days off to celebrate various facets of Panamanian pride. I went to my nearby city’s Grito de Independencia – the “cry of independence” which celebrates when the Panamanians literally cried independence from Columbia. I think. It was, in finest Panamanian style, a parade. There were bands from schools from all over our province. Here, being in band is really cool. Especially if you’re a drummer. My host brothers really want to be in band so they can pound the drums and wear sunglasses in the parades! I think parades are going to punctuate my experience on a regular basis. Recently I was in Santiago (my regional capital) and suddenly there was a parade. I asked my waitress what they were parading for, and she said, “es para las virgencitas.” It’s for the little Virgins. Sure enough, seemed like every Virgin Mary statue from the Catholic churches around Santiago and Veraguas was being paraded that day, along with her devotees. One day someone will have to explain to me why there are Virgins of xy and z. The great thing about parades is just about everyone can join in. If you have a kid in band, you are allowed to walk near or behind them. For the virgencitas, anyone who was devoted to that virgin put on a super duper clean outfit and heels and opened up an umbrella (that day, for the sun) and walked behind their statuette, proud to show everyone that they were showing their devotion to Mary. Believe me, I think that’s real dedication to walk slowly in heels and nice clothes when it’s hot or raining or both for a few hours.
Heels, short skirts, independence.
Hatchets?
Little girl in pollera--the traditional latino cultural dress (the indigenous groups have different traditional dress)
Little drummer boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment