Annalisa en Panamá

After I arrived in Panama, the closer I got to November, the more people around me started making knowing comments about what a busy/crazy month it would be.  For example, a Bible study group that meets roughly every two weeks was planning ahead and said, "Okay, so we'll meet October 21 and then . . . oh, and then it's November " -- and everyone in the room shook their heads and laughed. Part of a November parade in the Ciudad del Saber. So, what's the big deal about November?  It's a combination of two things: one is that Panama has become its own country twice: declaring independence from Spain in 1821 and separating from Colombia in 1903.  The other aspect is that Panama is kind of stretched out, and historically news travelled bit-by-bit through the country, so in addition to the National holidays, there are multiple celebrations that are province-specific.   Here are the National holidays, with descriptions below: November 2: All Saint's Day November

Last Friday marked three months in Panama -- one third of my planned time here.  The day turned out to be a surprisingly full one.  Sometimes an anniversary is only different because it's a special day on the calendar, but this particular anniversary came with some real differences. People Two days before, my husband returned from his travels around the U.S. (and Hong Kong and France, as well) to Panama.  Having him back is of course a huge, huge difference for me; I'm really enjoying having him around. One of the things I'm learning by being in Panama is something I knew intellectually before, but am learning experientially by being here: having people around me to share my experiences makes a world of difference.   Having said that, I have been starting to construct my own world of difference, as well. My Whatsapp contact list is growing fuller and fuller, and while many of the people in that last have been flash-in-the-pan acquaintances, others are becoming true friends

November here in Panama is a month of many national holidays (I'll write more about that later).  I've heard lots and lots about parades that happen all over the place, so when a parade happened right in the middle of the month, and also right in the middle of Ciudad del Saber where my host's office is located, I was excited to get to see it.   The parade started at the Colegio Isaac Rabin (Isaac Rabin school) Ciudad del Saber has a bunch of schools on its campus, and so many of the parade groups were themselves schools that had obviously practiced quite a bit.   The first parade group was from the Colegio Isaac Rabin;  their banner says they were founded in 2000, which is when Ciudad del Saber itself started up. The parade proceeded quite slowly; groups were often marching or dancing or performing in place in front of me.   Many groups had people dressed in the traditional Pollera outfits,  which for women includes these amazing skirts. And there were lots of batons, perfo

A woman who coordinates Fulbright gatherings at the U. of Panama told me about an embassy guy named Juan.  Juan apparently organizes informal adventure trips for people somehow connected to the Embassy (like me, because I'm a U.S. citizen supported by a branch of the Embassy that does public outreach).  As I'm a big fan of random adventure trips, I was excited to connect with him; he's super energetic (as in, kinda hyper energetic).   And so when Sunday, he asked if I wanted to go hiking in the Parque Metropolitano on Monday, I pushed my math projects aside and said "yes!!"  (Technically, I said, "Me encantaría eso.") The Parque Metropolitano (link,  here ) is a green space in Panama City.  Said even more accurately, it's a green stretch that the city wraps itself around --- kind of like the Mediterranean Sea wraps around Italy. I've tried in the past to go hiking there with friends, but every time we tried, it rained.  ( Panama , amirite?!) So,