Monday - December 08 - 10:03 PM Filed in:
Panama
Today was a big holiday in Panama, MOTHER'S
DAY! Yup, Mother's Day is an official government
holiday and it’s a big deal. Restaurants and florists
do a booming business, but government offices and
banks are closed up tight. It’s also what is called a
“bridge holiday” here in Panama, most of us know it
as a “three day weekend”. The “bridge” refers to
either the Puente de las Américas (Bridge of the
Americas) or the Puente Centenario (Centennial
Bridge) the two bridges that cross over the Panama
Canal and which Panamanians use in great numbers to
escape the city on these long holiday weekends.
Hope all you mothers had
a great day. Take care.
Tags: Culture
Thursday - October 30 - 08:05 PM Filed in:
Panama
Last night we spent a very enjoyable evening at
the National Theater at a free concert by the Joven
Orquesta de Centroamerica (the Youth Orchestra of
Central America). Fifty or so young musicians from
Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and
Panama put on a stunning performance. They played a
wide range of music and had a couple of adult guest
soloists, but the youngsters were clearly the
“stars”. It was also interesting in that they started
the concert with just the brass section on stage,
then the string section had their turn, then the
entire orchestra.
Read
more
Tags: Casco Viejo, Culture, Music
Saturday - October 04 - 09:19 PM Filed in:
Panama
This week the Festival Internacional de la
Cancion de Autor (International Festival of Singer
Songwriters) had it’s final events. The festival was
a series of free concerts - this year featuring the
guitar and had performers from Panama, Spain and
Mexico.
On Wednesday, Jane and I walked two blocks (stopped
for ice cream on the way) to Casa Góngora for a small
indoor event. Casa Góngora in a partially restored
building that is the home to the Casco Antiguo
Cultural Center.
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Tags: Casco Viejo, Culture, Music
Thursday - September 25 - 08:26 PM Filed in:
Panama
On any given day you can see just about
anything in Casco Viejo. School kids on a tour. Art
classes in the plaza. Police on their morning run.
Vendors and craft sellers. Tourists. Last week our
neighbors plunked a tent down in the middle of the
street (albeit a side street) and two soccer goals
for the kids - somebody’s birthday party. It was an
all day festivity ending in the required fireworks.
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more
Tags: Casco Viejo, Culture
Thursday - July 31 - 06:12 PM Filed in:
Panama
Jane and I walked down to the
ATLAPA Convention Center to check out the National
Handicrafts Fair. Tickets for us retirees (jubilados)
- a whopping $1.00 each. Inside we saw a variety of
arts and crafts which would have done a great job of
giving any house a true Panama look. Alas, no house.
After wandering around for a couple of hours Jane did
buy a Molas decorated purse. The real highlight of
the outing was the
entertainment.
Read
more
Tags: Culture
Monday - July 28 - 09:33 PM Filed in:
Panama
The “Diablo Rojo”
of Panama are both famous and infamous. Their planned
demise will either be a giant step forward or the
death of a cultural icon - take your pick. These
recycled U.S. school busses have been a fixture on
Panama’s streets for decades. Given no viable
(affordable) alternative, Panamanians crowd onto
these vividly decorated, loud, exhaust belching
antiques and hang on for their lives -
literally. Read
more
Tags: Culture
