26 Nov Pueblo Livin’
By Jenni Earll
Living in one of the smaller towns (pueblos) in Panama can be pretty cool. There are opportunities to practice your Spanish, meet locals, and get a bird’s-eye view of life for Panamanians. My husband and I live in downtown (!) San Carlos, which is what you might imagine as the county seat for the San Carlos district so there is fair amount of activity in our pueblo.
One of the most interesting parts of living right in the center of the pueblo is the surprising number of festivals and parades that occur. We were prepared for the celebrations of the national and religious holidays, but there are a lot more than just those!
To be perfectly honest, we are usually taken by surprise by the local festivals and parades. Occasionally we are alerted by the presence of beer tents going up the day before. Or if you have ever wondered what the banners on the side of the road are all about, well, heads up! There’s a party about to happen somewhere and all the info is there for those paying attention.
Okay, there are actually two that I do know a little bit about. Every 16 July there is the procession of the Virgen del Carmen, the patron saint of fishermen. So if you live in a town near the beach that has a fishing village, look for a procession heading to the beach that day followed by a blessing of boats. Then the boats will load up with people and head out for a water procession.
Also, in mid to late June there is the celebration of San Juan Bautista which I have seen celebrated with parades of small children dressed in full western regalia, riding hobby horses, and escorted by adults riding Paso Fino horses (the ones that sort of “dance”). That one is very fun if you can catch it! I have seen it in El Valle, El Espino, San Carlos, and I am guessing it happens in many places as horses are such a large part of Panamanian culture.
But then the other day, I was a bit under the weather and lying down for a quick nap at 11:30 am when fireworks started going off, the music kicked up, and I went to my front door to see a parade of floats filled with children in traditional dress representing the different provinces of Panama. What was the celebration? I have no idea! But it was great. This kind of thing happens a lot.
In the months leading up to Carnaval the “rival” princesses will host parades and parties in the park in front of our house to practice for the celebration. They don their costumes, get the floats out, and throw a party to drum up support for their team. Maybe our neighbors know this is going to happen, but it’s always a surprise to us and a good excuse to hang out and have some beers with the San Carlos crowd.
About once a month on Sunday mornings a group gets together across the street from us and plays traditional Panamanian music for about an hour or so. Neighbors head over, drink some beers and hang out under the mango trees to enjoy the tunes and relax. There’s also a quasi farmer’s market twice a month on Saturdays where people stock up on their giant sacks of rice and other necessities. Once I paid $1 for 4 pineapples, that was a good day.
And there are numerous other religious celebrations that take place. Solemn processions of town elders carrying religious icons, children coming from first communion celebrations, the President of Panama pushing a saint on a trolley in front of our house!
For the most part, pueblo life is pretty calm and quiet. Okay, sometimes the music gets a little loud and lasts longer than I would like. But then there are the times when there’s a flotilla of children in traditional dress dancing around on pineapple floats and how could you not love it? That’s pueblo livin’.
You can find a list of national holidays here and list of major festivals and events around the country here.