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Independence Day from Spain Parade - November 28, 2022

MaryBea Gallagher

• 4 min read
Independence Day from Spain Parade - November 28, 2022

After a very wordy November 26, I thought I should lighten up and fill your inbox with a parade for independence.   I will try to keep the announcer's intervention to a minimum and let you enjoy the culture and the flash.

Miguel, dressed in his handmade Guatemalan guayabera shirt and ready to go to the parade.

People come from all over Panama to Boquete to participate in the parade for Independence from Spain.  The route is about 1.5 miles long, and it started before 10:00 in the morning and didn't end until 12:30 am - over 14 hours!  We arrived toward the end of the route at about 10:15, and I gave up around 4:00, so we missed more than half of the event, but I got good photos to give you a sense of the fun.

The young man is wearing an authentic Panama hat. This is the hat the people wear in the fields and is handmade from dried palm fibers.

Drums were a constant for every marching group and band, but many had girl's sections who played these handheld xylophones - intense! 

These little girls were not in the parade yesterday, but they got all dressed up to watch and told us that they would be dancing at the feast at their house later.

The variety of regional costumes is large - and it shows from how far people have come to participate in the parade.

Better be good, kiddies!

The National Police dropped by and marched in formation, as well as local police, the highway patrol, the border patrol, a motorcycle troop, ambulance drivers, and other ways to show people's tax dollars in formation.

This gentleman and the woman below came from a town 300 miles away; we learned from a woman from that town who sat with us that had been to school in Canada on scholarship and spoke English comfortably.

The parade route was about 1.5 miles long - the fact that these young dancers still had energy at the end of the route was so impressive!

This is a kid dragon!

I was told these masks represent the Spanish conquistadors, who are being driven out of Panama.

Happy Independence Day from Spain, Panama!

MaryBea y Miguel

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         MaryBeaGallagher@gmail.com

         MiguelGiacomo@gmail.com

WhatsApp is the best tool for texts and voice calls, but it is uncertain for video calls.  We are officially in the Outback of Panama now, in a valley with mountains and extinct volcanos around, and the added interference of lightning and thunderstorms in the afternoons, so there are periods where transmissions will not get through.  Find WhatsApp for your phone or computer at your favorite App store.

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