Panama’s Independence Celebrations 2006

November 28th, 2006 |By Marvia Lawes in: Panama Culture |

Panama Flag

Panama’s Patriotic Month Celebrations
Alas, the exciting month of celebrations is drawing to a close. We had the first celebrations from Nov 3-5, with the 5th being the exciting Colon Day that I wrote about previously. (See ‘Viva Panama” for that story)

November 3rd, is Panama’s first Independence Day celebrations. This is the official day of celebrating Panama’s separation from Columbia, Nov 3 1903. Today, November 28th is the second Independence day for Panama. Today is the observance of Panama’s separation from Spain on Nov 28, 1821.

August is my favourite month for two reasons - It’s the time of my birthday, and also the time of the most exciting celebrations in Jamaica. During that time we have Emancipation Day, Independence Day, and Marcus Garvey Day/Black Awareness Sunday….wow. Did you notice that Marcus Garvey and I share the same birth month? Need I say more?

Now in Panama, November is already my third favourite month. [Second favourite is anywhere Easter falls but that's another story]. Obviously you can see why I love November in Panama. They have some serious celebrations you know. First they have, 4 holidays in one month - Nov 3, 5, 10, 28. Can you beat that? Plus, they march/parade up a storm. There are parades in different parts of panama on all of the days mentioned. Sorry that I could not get to be at all of them :-)

So another favourite month draws to a close, and with it the parading (marching). I continue to look for the significance of Independence for the Panamanian people. They have a really turbulent and checkered past and such high hopes for the future. And I can see that this means different things to the different ethnic groups residing in Panama. Yesterday a lawyer told me that foreigners make up one third of Panama’s population. That of course presents a whole new set of challenges for the country. I will note my observations as time goes by. But in the meantime -

VIVA PANAMA! (listen…can you hear the drums, horns, cymbals, and xylophones?)

Marcharemos en la luz de Dios,
Marvia

PS** Here are some sources to Read more on Panama :
Wikipedia - for those who love a good wiki
CIA Worldfactbook - factual data compiled by the CIA on all countries. Look up Jamaica while you are there.
Countrystudies - Panama - similar to above, but an older source with more interpretative details.

Know of any good ones? Post to your comments. Thank you!
Marvia

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2 Responses to “Panama’s Independence Celebrations 2006”

  1. Angel Says:
    December 1st, 2006 at 1:47 pm

    Marvia,
    Thanks for the info. Its always useful to learn more abt other countries etc.

    I also heard abt the devastation there, hope eventually things will be back to norm soon.

    Adios
    AAH

  2. Marvia Says:
    December 2nd, 2006 at 2:11 pm

    Welcome Angel,
    Thank you for visiting. I look forward to your visit to Panama to experience its delights for yourself. Do you ever get annoyed sometimes when people think that Jamaica is either Ochio Rios or MoBay? Well it is a simlar underlying impatience I have detected here. It is also not unusual to hear someone say - “Well, Panama is not A Canal you know:-)”

    Please keep us and the people of Rio Indio in your prayers. The work here is more challenging than in some other places, but God is able. We are thankful for assistance we have been receiving.

    Paz,
    Marvia

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