February 25, 2012

This past week was Carnival here in Panama as well as in the rest of the world. I suppose in the states it is rarely noticed, except for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Here it is a HUGE DEAL. I guess the country basically parties for four days and everyone gets drunk. So we decided to escape, since I had a week off school. Apparently, many of the locals in the Panama City escape to the interior and party (ie LOUD music and beer). I think the locals think that everyone in the world wants to listen to their music and they play it loud enough that you really have no choice. Anyway, everything is closed down on Tuesday, and then doesn’t open again until noon on Wednesday so people have a chance to sleep it off.
The government pays their employees monthly. But, there is what is called a 13th month pay check, which means that three times during the year (April 15, August 15 and Dec 15), the government pays out an equivalent of a “13th month” of pay (1/3 at a time). While the next payment was to come in April, the government decided to pay their workers this past Thursday. The new school year begins this coming Monday (for the local schools, not the international ones, since we are on the USA schedule). Anyway, the government figured people needed to purchase the school uniforms and supplies. But, they were wise enough to NOT give the money until after Carnival!
Another story I heard from a cab driver this week is how REALLY special a child’s 15th birthday party is. Many kids go on trips (without parents, but with chaperones) outside the country. Some go on island vacations, others to the states. It is a BIG deal. But, many parents cannot afford this and consequently have to take loans to pay for everything. Come on, this is for a 15th birthday party. Some forego the trip to host a huge party (like a wedding reception) for family and friends. Again, at 15?????
To avoid the chaos of Carnival, we went to St. Martin in the Caribbean for the week. Beautiful island with our favorite beach. The coolest part was that it was “just” a two hour direct flight from here. No more spending the day trying to get there worrying about connections and flight delays because of snow! It was fun to be in another culture (French) for the week. But the French, even though we couldn’t speak it, at least tried to speak English. That is so unlike here in Panama, where no one tries to speak English. Granted, it IS a Spanish speaking country and I need to learn the language, but few Panamanians even attempt to communicate in English. Apparently, when the USA left some 20 years ago after turning over the canal, English was pretty much outlawed. It wasn’t allowed to be taught in the schools, no one was to speak it, they just wanted to eliminate it completely. Then, they realized it was terrible for tourism and international business, so now are trying to bring it back. Meanwhile, an entire generation can’t understand or speak English.
Also pictured is the FULL MOON party. The park in my neighborhood has this beautiful gigantic tree that I have shown pictures of before. But once a month (at the full moon), they have a drum concert under the tree. We went for the first time a couple weeks ago. Some guy was chanting, most everyone brought either a drum or a 5 gallon plastic bucket to pound on. Beer was a dollar, soft drinks $1.50!!!! One of the biggest paella pans I have ever seen was being cooked over an open fire. Pretty cool. Plus, as if on cue, a huge full moon slowly rose on the horizon.
On the sports front, Lance Armstrong was here two weeks ago. There was a Half Iron Man triathlon in the city. He was here competing and came in 2nd place. All we saw from the triathlon was even more traffic jams. Generally on Sunday, traffic is light, but not that Sunday.