"Festival of Kites" in Boquete

While going through my e-mail this morning I read about the “Festival of Kites” the Mayor of Boquete Manolo Ruiz would be handing out 300 “cometas” kites at the Los Naranjos Gym today.
It sounded like fun and a chance to take some pictures doe a short posting on my blog- so I decided to go. Both children and the “young at heart” were enjoying their kite flying some better at it than others. It was a beautiful day for this activity, the sky was blue, the sun was out, and just enough wind to get the kites up in the air.

The Mayor’s kite was very large and he and his group attempted many times to get it off the ground. I thought they had given up on the idea but a short while later their kite was way up in the sky. Deciding then to take a picture of the Mayor’s kite, I was hoping it would turn out to be good one after promising the Mayor’s wife I would email her a copy.

Here are pictures of my afternoon at the “Festival of Kites.”

Los Angeles

This past Sunday we thought we would not be going on an organized walk. However, Melva Miranda emailed me with information regarding another walk and mentioning it would only be about a two-hour walk. Organized by the 2009-2010 161 Anniversary of the Chiriqui Province by the committee in the district of Gualaca the hike would take to Los Angeles countryside located on the edge of the Comarca Ngöbe Bugle. The Ngöbe-Bugle is the indigenous people in Chiriquí’s Province.

Here is brief description of the Ngöbe-Bugle. They are compromised of two separate linguistic groups (The Ngöbe and the Bugle). They are Panama's most numerous indigenous peoples with a population of about 180,000 Ngöbes and 10,000 Bugles and they inhabit the Ngöbe-Bugle Comarca, which is a protected area that operates its own political system (comparable to a reservation).

The majority of the Ngöbe-Bugle lives in small communities or villages. They live in "chozas" or huts made of straw with dirt floors. In their farms, the men carry out agriculture of subsistence based on slash and burn techniques and produce corn, cassava, bananas, peach palm, and some other fruits. During the coffee harvest season, more than half of them migrate to work the plantations in the western part of the province.

The women are responsible for the primary care of the children and the homes. Some of them also spend their time working with various arts and create several splendid crafts. The "chacara" is a type of woven bag made by the women that displays their numerous ancestral legends, mimicking the skin and colors of their animals and the landscape of the Comarca. These bags are fibers from the pita and cabuya plants

Two other art forms created by the women are "chaquiras" - a type of beaded necklace and "naguas" which are the traditional dresses worn by the women and girls. The naguas are very colorful and beautiful and the jagged shapes and vivid colors of the Ngöbe-Bugle mountains and forests inspire the hand-sown appliqué work.

Back to the hike, we assumed the hike would be easy since it was just for two hours. As it turned it was best hike I have been on, ok I know, I know on my last post I said "it" was my favorite. Sunday’s hike was a level 6 or 7 in terms of terrain. We climb up and down some magnificent terrain over-looking mountains, green pastures and hiked in the bush where all the snakes live. There were small trees with spikes that one does not dare touch and leaf-cutter ant mounds - the ants will crawl onto your foot wear in a second. Some of us slipped onto our rear end while some wore shorts receiving a few scratches. No bad injuries occurred.
Our destination for lunch was a home located along this beautiful countryside we were served delicious "Sancocho", rice with guandu, and pineapple "Chi Cha."

Our guide Francisco a member of the Toursit Cooperative lives in the area - did a splendid job pointing out medicinal plants, old beehives, and other interesting bits of history. I just cannot praise Francisco enough.

After lunch, we rested and were entertained by the Gnöbe who performed a few religious rituals and danced, some of us joining in. It was again a perfect day and ended with a walk back to our car while some rode horses. We then stopped for soft drinks in Los Angeles saying “hasta luego y hasta la proxima.” Hugging Melva Miranda whom I have come to admire and will always remember -her dedication in organizing the walks and Roger Patino both of the Movimiento Federalista de Panamá.

Tinajas - Panama

The 160 Anniversary of the Chiriqui Province continues so therefore each Sunday since January 25, 2009 I have been going on organized walks through the countryside of the Dolega District in the Province of Chiriqui. It has truly been a great experience – meeting wonderful people each Sunday, some providing experiences by sharing their stories so now I relish this walk with anticipation. Even more, I would like to continue this relationship with my new Panamanian acquaintances as we “Walk the Trails of the Doraces” together.

Let me explain briefly about the Doraz. The Doraz tribe lived in the valleys of Boquete and Caldera, and the plains of Dolega, Bocas del Toro, and Costa Rica. Men and women of this ethnic group were copper skin and were a higher society than Guaymi/Ngöbe-Buglé through their ancestry, language, and customs. They practiced a rudimentary agriculture, planting corn, yucca, plantain, and pixbae. The Doraces also supplemented their diet with hunting, fishing, and gathering of eatable plants. They made salt for preparing their food by primitive methods of cooking water, taken from the coast and estuaries. They would spin, weave and adorned with colorful drawings, very similar to those found on "huacas" which are large rocks.

This past Sunday, February 15, 2008 we walk from Rovira a small sub-division of the Dolega District to another sub-division named Tinajas. Joined by friends from Boquete who have been on this historic walk since the beginning this time we walk 7 miles hiking across fields, and crossing small rivers with one thick bamboo as our bridge, some slipped while the majority made it across.

Tinajas is known for its orange orchards, sugar cane Fincas (farms), including the making of "panela" which is a brown sugarloaf. Upon arriving, we stopped at a Finca for a well-needed rest while the owner demonstrated how they crush sugar cane. The cane is placed through two or three huge wooden round dowels that turn while two good-looking and healthy oxen tied to a yoke are coaxed into walking in a circle pulling a derrick. All the visitors had a taste of the strained refreshing liquid. It was poured into a coconut shell; we enjoyed the very tasty and refreshing sugarcane and by the way it is not overly sweet, as one might think.

These walks have become more and more interesting opening my eyes to learning and discovering something new each time.

Lunch was Panama’s favorite “Sancocho” chicken soup served with rice, always served at lunchtime. It is so very delicious that even expats enjoy slurping it up. YUMMY! I decided to try the “Almojabanos” con “carne ahumada.” Almojabanos are similar to fritters but better and smoked pork another Yummo!!

After waiting for our driver, we had invited to a small town festival in Dos Rios. The “Festival de Antaño” or the Festival of Yesteryear was truly a wonderful event with demonstrations showing how people lived and worked in the good old days in this area. One demonstration was the sawing of a log with a 7 ft. hand saw with another being the pounding of rice by two people truly hard work. In addition was the march and singing of men returning to the village to receive their reward for their hard work and women in their colorful costumes dancing the traditional Cumbia among other dances.

Sunday was just another fantastic day in Panama. All of this has come my way because I choose to discover and explore new things in this wonderful world we live in. Right now, it is in Panama where I have found it to have truly the very kindliest, friendliest, and warmest people a land can have.

Super Bowl Sunday at "La Cabaña"

Yes, yes, we do watch this stuff here in Boquete. What expat would not root for their favorite team? I went to The Rotary Club of Boquete Fundraiser on Sunday to watch the game and to check out the card tables and support another good cause.

Club Rotario de Boquete has about 24 members - is part of the larger organization, Rotary International. The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the idea of service to the local community. The Rotary works directly in the community with other clubs throughout the world to influence and maximize the quality of these services. Club Rotario de Boquete has built and continues to build relationships with Clubs in the US, Canada, Spain, and Panamá. With help from other clubs, there is the ability to aid more people in need and unite people of different cultures and beliefs. All Rotarians work daily to make the world a better place in which we can all live peacefully. In Boquete, it has sponsored the Medical Clinic at Casa Esperanza, Casa Hogar Triskar, an orphanage for children abandoned or parents cannot care for their child and various schools in the Boquete area.

Five dollars was the fundraisers admittance in return we received a raffle ticket for a chance to win “dinner for two” at one of the swankier places here called "The Panamonte." The owner is Inga Collins whose parents the purchased The Panamonte in 1946.

The games played were Black Jack, Poker -the dealers were busy all evening, and five dollars for the game pool - surely the Rotary Club

made money for their charitable cause. A friend of mine won more than twenty-five dollars playing poker table - he decided to take the money instead of losing, hum, smart man.

Hamburgers were grilling outside and tasted delicious, I ate the best Panamanian hot dog since my arrival. Oh and let me not forget to write a bit about the Super Bowl game. It was definitely an exciting game - some were seated on the edge of their chairs as the Pittsburgh Steelers scored a touchdown with 35 seconds left and beat the Cardinals by 27 points to 23. What a performance!

The Rotary Club’s Super Bowl fundraiser organized primarily by Jerry Wager took place in
“La Cabaña”, the only good late nightspot in Boquete. It looks like a huge cabin lodge high up in the north woods in the United States. Frédéric Bourjalliat is one of the owners who has decorated La Cabaña, with module red and black sofas and lounge chairs for very comfy seating. On a typical weekend La Cabaña is usually filled with a few older folks but it is a mostly young crowd who listen to their favorite beat “reggaetón” and other good music beats blasting out from the sound system. La Cabaña is really a cool two level place to hangout.

Frédéric's staff is always attentive to customers, drinks priced reasonably at a dollar fifty or so for a glass of Panamanian Ron (rum) on the rocks or with your choice of mixer . Frédéric said his rum selection is vast and he has many other liquor choices too. When you come to visit Boquete or here for the weekend only check out La Cabaña, they are open until the wee hours (weekends only) of the morning, similar to the rave bars in the states.
Today is a rainy and very windy day in Boquete this storm is hitting Panama from different areas. It started from the East Coast in the US and over the Atlantic. I wanted to have a better pic of
La Cabaña, but with this weather; it would be impossible to take a good shot and will not show as well. In another day or so, we will have good weather again and will post a pic of La Cabaña then.

Asi es la vida, C’est la vie, o Questa è la vita. Some days are fantastic! Some days are good!