It is the day, in 1903, that Panama gained independence from Columbia.
Normally, there are parades. People tend to spend the day at the beach BBQing, drinking, and having fun.
During Covid, there were no parades. And although people were allowed to gather at the beach, it is unlikely there was much in the way of gatherings. However, this may have been true even without Covid, typically, the rainy season is especially rainy during the month of November.
Also, Separation Day is a dry day. No alcohol is served or sold. You can drink 'em if you have 'em though.
Throughout the month, you will still see schools, cars, and shops decked out with the Panamanian flag as usual.
Below is the list of the other Independence-related holidays in Panama that will also be quieter and lacking in parades.
November 4 – Flag Day. The day after the announcement of the separation from Columbia, Maria de la Ossa de Amador secretly started to design the Panamanian Flag. Her design became the official flag of Panama in 1925.
Normally, on Flag Day there are numerous parades with many displays of national pride throughout Panama. But again, not this year, due to the coronavirus.
November 5 – Colon Day. This is to celebrate the independence fight from Columbia that occurred without a shot being fired. The US had something to do with it. Read about Panama's independence from Columbia here, to learn more.
November 10 – The Uprising of Los Santos. This holiday commemorates Panama's 1821 struggle to gain independence from Spain. The day is typically celebrated with colorful parades, traditional folk music, and dancing. Hopefully, all those forms of celebration will return next year.
November 28 – Independence Day from Spain. Officials in Panama City declared independence from Spain in 1821 but fearing retaliation, joined Gran Columbia, which is now present-day Columbia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador. (NOTE: Unfortunately, for years Gran Columbia ignored the needs of its newest addition, Panama. There was an uprising, which failed. Then the US helped out, and Panama was quickly independent without a shot being fired.)
I read a recent interview with Marixa Lasso, a Panamanian historian and researcher, who wrote the award-winning book, Erased: The Untold Story of The Panama Canal. In the interview, Marixa Lasso was asked, "Which was more liberating: Panama's independence from Spain or its separation from Colombia?
Her reply (below) made me more fully realize the importance of Panama's independence from Spain.
“I'll change your question to this: Which of these movements changed the lives of Panamanians the most?
In that case, without a doubt, the answer is independence from Spain, because at that moment our whole way of understanding politics and social relations was changed. We went from being governed by a king to being governed by ‘the sovereign people’ through their representatives and a Constitution. We went from being a society with nobles and commoners, which had countless different laws and privileges for each social group, to one that aspired to a world in which all men were equal before the law. That was a huge change because it marked the beginning of the end of slavery. Or that illegitimate children had the same political rights as illegitimate children, and thus countless categories that divided society into different classes were eliminated. "
To get more detailed information about Panama's Holidays, go to my post on Panama's November holidays.
Most of the celebrations, especially parades, will not be happening in 2020, the year of the coronavirus.
However, government offices will still close and traffic and traffic flow restrictions in and out of Panama City will still be in effect. So keep that in mind.
You can vote in US Elections from Panama, or from anywhere overseas.
Votefromabroad.org makes requesting absentee ballots for US Citizens overseas easy. However, the deadline to request a ballot is different in every state. You can check your state's deadlines on the Vote From Abroad website, here. The Federal Voting Assistance program also provides information about getting an absentee ballot in your state, here.
Many states will send you an absentee ballot via email.
When I request an absentee ballot for Washington State, I use votefromabroad.org. The ballot request form is officially called the Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request Federal Post Card Application (FPCA).
The form asks you specific questions about your long-term plans. For instance, you are given the option to say, "my return is uncertain" or "I intend to return" to the US.
If you indicate, “My return is uncertain,” you will receive a federal ballot (i.e., President and Congress). Also, more than half of the states (31) will also send you a state ballot (i.e., governor, state legislature, etc.) for which you are registered.
If you indicate “I intend to return”, even if you have no fixed return date or firm plans to do so you will receive your state ballot for state offices as well as federal elections ballot.
Then, once you are back living in the U.S., you will need to update your residence address with your Local Election Official, just like you do whenever you move. However, you’ll already be a registered voter, so it will be relatively easy to simply update your address. Most states provide an online process to update your address.
You can still register to vote in a few states. But, keep in mind, most states require voters to register at least 45 days before an election.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program website (fvap.gov), allows you to discover your state's register to vote deadlines. The site also provides links for you to discover whether you are already registered to vote or not.
Important: Simply filling out the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) on votefromabroad.org, does not mean you are registered to vote.
You must submit your completed FPCA to your US local election office. The VotefromAbroad.org website will tell you how to do this. You must do this because only your local election office has the authority to approve your FPCA, register you to vote, and send out your ballot! Depending upon your state, you can email FPCA to your local office, fax it or mail it.
Have you already requested an absentee ballot, but have not received it? You can fill out a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB). The FWAB is the US's back up plan for overseas voters.
Visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program website to fill out the FWAB.
There isn't much more time to return your ballot. When you get your ballot, be sure to fill it out and return it right away. Did I mention the election is only 6 days away!
Electronically
Thankfully, over half of the states also allow you to return your ballot electronically (email, fax, or online upload).
By Mail
All states allow you to return your ballot by mail. If you choose to mail in your ballot–or if your state requires you to do so, you can do so through mail services such as FedEx or DHL or use a courier service. To help ensure your ballot is received by the deadline, follow these steps:
However you send in your ballot, remember that you (the voter) must be the one who places it in the mail or courier service or gives it to an authorized agent for the US Embassy/Consulate. In some states, it is unlawful for any other person to handle your voted ballot, even if it is sealed.
If meeting the deadline is a concern, you can send in a Backup Ballot–that is, the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (or FWAB). (See above)
Your ballot will contain the instructions and deadlines specific to your voting state. Please be sure to read and follow the instructions completely!
If you have any questions, contact your local election office.
Confirm Your Vote Was Received
After you send in your voted ballot, be sure to verify that it was received and counted! Contact your local election office for confirmation. Many states also have websites to track your ballot.
For more information on voting overseas and sources for election information, please check out this post.
We soak up everything that Lonely Planet, Rosetta Stone and Wikipedia have to offer about our soon to be new home.
In our zeal, we are prone to misgauging our own proficiency.
We are pumped . . . and ready . . . and oh so naive.
Set for swindling.
A big thank you to Jerry of thecultureblend.com. This post is a reproduction of his article, "The Seven Lies of Living Cross Culturally". He expresses the expat situation so well, I wanted to share it with my readers.
There are seven great deceptions and most of us fall for at least five. I have personally tested them all. You know . . . for research.
I lay them out now NOT for the sake of those who are packing up their lives and getting ready to go. That would be like telling newlyweds that marriage is hard.
They just tilt their head and grin at you as if you’re the cute one . . . “yeah, we know it’s hard for everyone else but we’re sooooo in love . . . and it will never, ever be hard for us.” You’re sweet and I would never steal this time from you. Proceed.
But for those of you coming down from the honeymoon (and possibly even some of you veterans) . . . here are seven deceptions which you may or may not have noticed just yet.
It’s perfectly natural when we relocate from one country to another country to focus entirely on those two cultures. Give me a spreadsheet with TWO columns and tell me how our cultures are different.
WE like personal space — THEY don’t.
WE are direct — THEY are indirect.
WE use a fork — THEY use their fingers
BOOM! I got this.
There are tests and inventories and boatloads of brilliant research that can help you size up YOURS and THEIRS. Culture to culture, side by side.
I love that stuff. I could get lost in it but the big reality shocker comes when you realize that living cross-culturally is not simply TWO cultures but it requires MULTIPLE layers of cultural adjustment.
Here’s the kicker — often times the OTHER cultures are more consuming than the one of your host country.
This list goes on.
It’s never just two
Learning a new language is hard. Sure it’s easier for some people than others and no doubt there are gifted learners who seem to have flair for picking it up quickly. The rest of us are . . . what’s the English word?
NORMAL
Regardless, one of the most painful realizations is that a new language doesn’t just grow organically in your brain because you are surrounded by it.
Expats are survivalists first and foremost. We pick up the absolutely essential phrases, we seek out picture menus, we print taxi cards, we download apps and we are shameless masters of hand gestures and charades.
Never has there been a group of people who have worked harder to communicate without learning how to.
In many places, you can be (and you will not be alone) an expat for years upon years and never learn the language. Intentionally choosing the harder option is key.
It doesn’t just happen.
“Culture shock” is a deceptive phrase. The word “shock” insinuates some kind of unforeseen, instant jolt. As if you stuck your fork into an outlet and BAZZZAAAPPP!
“WHOA! Should have used chopsticks! Didn’t see that coming.”
Consequently, when we don’t have the quick sizzle, hair raising, eye-bulging zap followed by the easily distinguishable and obviously dysfunctional meltdown we assume (incorrectly) that we have beat the system. No culture shock for me.
“I am Transition Man! Your culture bolts are no match for my defences!”
But the transition from one system to another system is not a switch that we flip, it is a process that we go through. That process includes the stress of adjusting from the way you have always done it to the way it is now done.
It includes wrestling with knowing, without a doubt that your way is better . . . and then thinking that it probably is . . . and then wondering if it might be . . . and then acknowledging there may be two good ways . . . and then (sometimes) recognizing the new way is better.
For some people, the process is harder, deeper, darker, more dysfunctional. Some people thrive on the instability.
It’s not the same (by any means) for everyone but no one gets immunity.
Maybe you’ve seen something like this:
Tools like this are especially helpful when cultural transition feels like puberty. “Why am I feeling like this?! Why am I acting like this?! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!”
In the complicated, confusing moments of adjustment, charts like this serve as a sweet reminder of a simple yet solid truth.
“I’m normal??. Waaahh, that’s fabulous. But seriously, get out of my room.”
The problem with the standard culture shock continuum is NOT that it is inaccurate. It is that we think it was designed to be more accurate than it is.
“I feel like my transition had more dips than that.”
“I think my dip wasn’t so deep but it lasted longer than 6 months.”
“I don’t think I ever got a honeymoon phase.”
Yes. Yes. Yes. You are spot on. Your transition is yours. It is dramatically different than the next guys and his is different than everyone else. If you are expecting to fit exactly into the right schedule for adjustment you’re likely to slip back into feeling weird or abnormal or dysfunctional or superhuman.
There are too many variables for everyone to have the same transition.
This was mine.
In human years, expats move from 5 to 16 in about two months. Let me explain.
Expats are uber inquisitive on the front end. “What is that? How do you say this? What’s that smell? Why do they do that? What’s the history behind this? Who? What? When? Where? How? Why? Why? Why?”
Like a 5 year old. We embrace ignorance on a quest for answers.
BUT (and this is where it ALL falls apart): We think when we get an answer, we understand it (you should read that sentence again). Soon we “know” (finger quotes) everything.
Like a 16 year old.
When we have answers, we stop asking questions. This can be a fatal flaw for expats. There is ALWAYS more to it.
“Ignorance is not your problem unless you think that you’re not ignorant.”
-Albert Einstein – should have said this
Embrace ignorance and stay 5 for a while.
For contrast, imagine describing the climate of North America as frigid because you spent Christmas day in Northern Canada. Check out Guatemala in July before you share your expertise.
There is always more to it.
This one is doubly deceptive. It sneaks up on you and you never see it coming. There are no instant, clear cut signs, but one day . . . months from now . . . maybe even years, you realize you’ve been duped.
No one is more excited than the honeymooning newbies to engage local culture.
“We’re going to make lots of local friends and study language, learn their customs, and teach them ours. We’ll share cooking lessons and laugh about idioms. It’ll be great!”
Then . . . over time . . . and one interaction at a time, you take the least challenging option.
It’s frustrating to speak a language you don’t know. You don’t connect with these people on sports or politics or food or fun and it feels more like work than friendship.
That’s how the bubble is built.
For clarity let me just say . . . I love the bubble. Some of my best friends are in that bubble and I like hanging out there.
BUT I don’t want to be STUCK inside of it. To live cross culturally and never genuinely experience (deeply) your host culture is a BIG miss. To be surrounded by people who are SO different and could teach you SO much and never find a friend, is a sad thing.
The lie we believe is that it won’t happen to us. However, without tremendous and ongoing intentionality it almost always does.
This varies dramatically depending on who you are and where you are living. It is painfully easy to mistake cultural hospitality for respect and admiration. “These people treat me like a rock star.”
It’s easy to let that misguided reaction go to your head (much like a rock star would). The result is typically tragic.
This is where cultures get abused and foreigners leave a trail of mess behind them. In their arrogance, they assume that they have all of the pieces — “They smile when they see me, they laugh at my jokes, they want to spend time with me . . . they must love me.”
There is always more to it.
Or maybe they love you.
Point is, you can’t know until you stick around and build a real relationship. That’s where the good stuff is. The real stuff.
If you’ve been duped, welcome to the club. Actually you’ve been here for a while, but none of us wanted to say anything. Welcome back from your honeymoon.
This is where it gets good.
Normally, my items would have been bagged in plastic in a blink of an eye.
That morning the cashier just let them sit on the counter.
Suddenly remembering the new rule, I grabbed my few items and left.
Later that same day, I shopped at our Romero (a national chain of grocery stores.) Walking around the store I was surprised at how many people had remembered to bring reusable bags from home. One woman was even filling her's up as she shopped.
Noticing that, I went to my car and grabbed my bags. (Luckily my husband had thought ahead and stashed some there.)
When I returned to Romero a couple of days later, they had displays explaining your bag options (see photo).
So no worries, if you forget to bring your own grocery bags you have options. At least at Romero's.
At Romero, if you forget your bag, you have 3 options:
Before the law went into effect, Romero was selling an assortment of reusable bags. My favorite has a watermelon design. I bought 2. I think they are $2 each. Romero still sells the "watermelon" bags, but not in the checkout area.
I went to a few other stores to find out about their bag situation.
Supermercado Puerto Armuelles. On July 25th, I went back to Supermercado Puerto Armuelles, our mid-size and popular grocery store. It was now offering 2 sizes of their branded disposable bags for 50 and 75 cents, depending upon size. (see photo).
Super Centro Baru, a nearby and smaller grocery store, also offers Supermercado Puerto Armuelles bags for sale and at the same price. That is the only bag option Super Centro Baru offers.
According to the cashier, the 2 stores are not owned by the same people, they are associates.
Disney. I also visited nearby Disney, one of Puerto's long-time grocery stores. Disney offers zero bag options. The women in line with me had brought one of Romero's green-colored reusable bags with her.
However, if you forget to bring your bag to Disney, you can buy one at the stall across the street from it. The stall offers bags ranging from $1 to $3 (see photo).
Produce stands still seem to use plastic bags (see photos), but seemingly not the type that are banned.
FYI: The new law did not ban all plastic bags, just single-use polyethylene plastic bags. Polyethylene is what those ubiquitous “T-shirt” plastic bags that most grocery stores use are made from.
The clear bags I see produce stands using are made of polypropylene. You can tell because polypropylene bags are clear, polyethylene bags are translucent.
Given how they are everywhere, it seems incredible that those T-shirt plastic bags were only invented in the early 60's.
I bought fruit and veggies on July 20th, and it was put in a large plastic mesh bag. Most likely due to the size and weight of cantaloupe and watermelon I purchased.
A few days later I bought a pineapple from the same stand. They put it in a clear plastic bag. (see photo)
They bagged my pineapple immediately, without asking. I definitely did not need a bag for my solitary pineapple.
A gentleman who was buying some veggies at the same time had brought his own small reusable bag. However, the vendors still put his veggies in a clear plastic bag and then put that bag into the reusable bag he had brought with him. As I mentioned, I believe these clear plastic bags are not banned by the law.
Perhaps over time, the automatic action of bagging produce in plastic will diminish as vendors get used to people bringing their own bags.
It seems that the people and government of Panama are increasing embracing environmentalism.
Perhaps the effect of the new plastic bag law will far exceed its goal of reducing plastic consumption by 20% across Panama.
At the time of its discovery, it was the largest pearl ever found. This pearl remains one of the largest perfectly symmetrical pear-shaped pearls in the world.
The pearl was found by an African slave on the coast of the Isle of Santa Margarita in the Gulf of Panama in the mid-16th century. The slave who found it was rewarded with freedom.
Originally, this pearl was given to Don Pedro De Temez, the Spanish Crown administrator of Panama. The pearl subsequently became part of the royal jewels of both the Spanish and English crown. The pearl eventually ended up in the hands of Elizabeth Taylor. Her husband Richard Burton, gave it to her as a gift.
The pearl is called, La Peregrina, a Spanish word meaning "the Pilgrim" or "the Wanderer".
U.S. Senators were undecided about where to build the Canal: in Panama or in Nicaragua.
Philippe Bunau-Varilla, who lobbied for a Panamanian Canal, had an ingenious idea. He sent every US Senator a Nicaragua postage stamp which depicted one of the country's many volcanoes.
It was an effective ploy: he stated that Panama had no volcanoes, thus was a safer bet. The U.S. senators agreed.
Today, you will find this persuasive stamp at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.
You can see both from the top of the highest point in the country, Volcan Baru.
You can climb the Volcan Baru starting in the town of Volcan or Boquete, both located in the Chiriqui Province of Panama.
(Note: Originally, I included the assertion that you can see both the sunrise on the Pacific and sunset on the Atlantic from the top of Volcan Baru. That is how it is written on the source for this list: The Panama Embassy. But as Ed, in the comments below, observed, that is impossible since the sun sets and rises in the West and East and the oceans in Panama are in the South and North. Thanks Ed.)
Coca Cola was first sold in Panama in 1906.
Coke was available just in time to quench the thirst of the Americans working on the Canal. Coke was so popular that when the Panama bottling factory owners bought a cafe in 1918, they rechristened it Cafe Coca Cola.
The Cafe Coca Cola is now the oldest cafe on the isthmus. You can visit it today in the Caso Viejo neighborhood of Panama City.
Panama adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency in 1904. Not coincidentally, this occurred right after its independence from Columbia.
At the same time, the newly minted country of Panama also allowed the US to build the Panama Canal across their new county.
I write how Panama's Independence from Columbia was won as part of an article on Panama's 5 November holidays.
The Diocese of Panama is thought to be the oldest in the Americas. It was set up in 1514, with the arrival of Franciscan missionaries.
Even before that, in 1510, Martin Fernandez de Enciso and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa founded the city of Santa Maria la Antigua.
It was located on the Atlantic in what is now the Darien province.
On August 15, 1516, Pedro Arias Davila founded the city of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Panama,
It was the first European city built on the Pacific Ocean side of the American continent.
The Panama embassy website states that Angela Brown, born in Bocas del Toro, Panama, is the first person of African descent to become part of a European royal family. They state it happened in 2000 when she married Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein.
However, this is incorrect.
Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies (see photo), a West African Egbado princess of the Yoruba people, was the first.
She was captured as part of a slave hunt and eventually given to Queen Victoria as a gift.
At that time, slavery was already outlawed in England. Instead of abandoning the girl, who was 8 at the time, Queen Victoria adopted her. Princess Bonetta was very much considered both a princess and part of the royal family.
In 1501, Rodrigo Galvan de Bastidas was the first conquistador to arrive at the Panamanian isthmus.
One year later, in 1502, Christopher Columbus visited the isthmus during his 4th voyage to the Americas.
Columbus did not fare well in Panama. On January 9, 1503, he built a garrison fort at the mouth of the Rio Belen in western Panama. On April 6, a large force of Indians attacked the garrison. The Spanish managed to hold off the attack but realized that the garrison could not be held for long.
Columbus rescued the remaining members of the garrison, losing one of his ships in the process. On April 16, the 3 remaining ships, now badly leaking from shipworm, sailed for home.
The Panama Hat is actually from Ecuador
The Panama hat is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin.
How did a hat from Ecuador get the name, the Panama Hat?
The Gold Rush had something to do with it.
One of the routes Americans took from the east to the Gold Rush in California was by crossing the Panama Isthmus from the Atlantic over to the Pacific and then up to California. This hat was very popular with that Gold Rush crowd.
Another reason for the myth is that U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was photographed wearing one when he visited the construction site of the Panama Canal in 1904.
2.8 million years ago, the Isthmus of Panama rose from the sea.
In doing so it united two continents, separated a vast ocean in two, and changed the planet’s biodiversity forever.
For instance, climate change caused by the appearance of the isthmus contributed to human evolution. Without the isthmus, homo sapiens may never have evolved.
Who knows, without Panama, we might still be monkeys!
At Panama's request, Gehry designed the Biomuseo specifically to help tell the story of how the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama radically changed life on Earth.
The museum is not just the building, it includes the outdoor spaces which were designed to be part of the experience.
The Biomuseo is definitely worth a visit if you are in Panama City. I wrote about my family's 2015 visit here.
There are 986 recorded bird species in Panama. A number that surpasses the United States, which has 914 species.
As you can imagine, this makes Panama a popular destination for bird watchers from around the world.
Robert G. Fowler signed a contract to fly his modified Gage biplane ocean-to-ocean across Panama.
It was an extraordinarily dangerous flight, with no open areas available for emergency landings and treacherous winds. He and his cameraman, R.E. Duhem, took off from the Pacific side and landed in shallow water at Cristobal: 52 miles and 1 hr and 45 mins. later.
You can see the Gage-Fowler biplane at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Panama's San Blas Archipelago, known as the San Blas Islands, are in the Atlantic Ocean.
This archipelago consists of 365 islands and cays. If you love boats, this is the place for you.
In 1928, the American Richard Halliburton paid 36 cents in order to swim the Panama Canal across the isthmus. In today's (2019) dollars, that is the equivalent of $5.23.
Halliburton was not the 1st or fastest to swim the Panama Canal. However, he was the 1st to travel through all 3 sets of locks. It took him 50 hours over 10 days to swim the 48-mile length of the Panama Canal.
Richard Halliburton made a career of traveling the world and writing books about his adventures. He famously said, in response to his father’s plea for him to settle down, “I’ll be especially happy if I am spared a stupid, common death in bed.”
The Harpy Eagle is the largest, most powerful eagle in the Americas.
This raptor inspired J.K. Rowling's depiction of Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix in the Harry Potter series.
Its name refers to the harpies of Greek mythology. Harpies are mythical monsters in the form of a bird with a human female face.
The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is found in the lowland rainforests of tropical Americas.
The first female president of Panama was Mireya Moscoso.
She was President of Panama from 1999 to 2004.
Isabel Saint Malo was the 1st female Vice President of Panama.
She was both the Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2018.
Edward A. Murphy, an engineer who spent a lifetime studying reliability and safety in order to prevent human error, coined “Murphy’s Law” with an offhand remark.
Murphy's law: If anything can go wrong, it will.
Edward Murphy Jr. was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1918.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama was founded in 1923 as the Barro Colorado Island Laboratory to study tropical biology.
Although still based in Panama, today its researchers study biodiversity and human culture throughout the tropics.
John McCain was born in Coco Solo, Panama on August 29th, 1936.
At the time, Coco Solo, a United States Navy submarine base and naval air station, was part of the U.S. territory in Panama.
That area is now within the town of Cativá, which is near Colón, Panama.
Panama: 29K sq. miles (75.5K km²) & 3.8 million people
South Carolina: 32K sq. miles (83K km²) & 5.1 million people
Ireland: 32.5K sq. miles & (84.4K km²) & 4.8 million people
I found this list of factoids on the Embassy of Panama website. As is my way, I changed and expanded upon them to varying degrees.
It can be challenging to celebrate Easter the way you would in the US or Canada.
It is hard to find Easter egg dye, plastic eggs, and, hardest of all, chocolate Easter bunnies in your local stores.
Chocolate Bunnies
I have actually yet to find a chocolate Easter bunny in Panama. Although, I'm sure these days you can find them in Panama City and maybe even in David.
I have made my own using a mold I bought in the States. However, I used those chocolate bunny molds only twice.
I melted down Cadbury milk chocolate bars to create them. It doesn't sound hard, but tempering it properly was a little tricky given my equipment. And then I had to do it while I was tired after the kids went to sleep, in order to keep their creation a secret.
At any rate, I retired my bunny molds. However, the possibility of making them yourself is something to keep in mind.
If possible, I try to buy Easter bunnies while I am visiting the States, particularly after I gave up making my own.
Of course, chocolate Easter bunnies are hard to keep hidden given that they must be kept cool or they will melt. Wrapping them so they are unrecognizable, and putting them in the freezer, perhaps under some frozen fish, works pretty well. Then pray that when the electricity goes out it isn't out long enough to melt the bunnies.
(In general, if your electricity goes out, I recommend putting a big bag of ice (wrapped in a couple of plastic bags) in your freezer. It will save more than your bunnies! The bigger grocery stores all have generators, so you can continue to buy ice from them.)
Over the years, occasionally the Easter Bunny has been forced to give my kids large chocolate bars instead of bunnies. My kids prefer bunnies, but they seemed to be okay with the chocolate bars (see photo below). It is chocolate after all.
Click to learn more about Easter in Panama
In one of the photos in the gallery below, you will see one of the years where I did not have a chocolate bunny for my daughter's Easter basket. She looks pretty happy with her haul anyway. You may also notice that I used leaves from plants in our yard as the "grass" for that basket.
I am sad to realize that I failed to take photos of many of our Easters. But I do have a few. Click on any photo below to start the slideshow.
Dying White vs Brown Eggs
The first time I dyed eggs in Panama, I was dismayed about the lack of white eggs.
Almost all of the eggs sold in Panama are brown. If you really want to use white eggs, I suggest you ask your neighbors to see if their chickens lay white eggs. Maybe you can do an egg exchange.
Actually, I quickly gave up my search for white eggs.
Dying brown eggs work just fine. The color is less vibrant, but deeper.
What to Use For Dye
When we first came to Panama in 2007, our town didn't even have food coloring for sale in the stores.
However, finding things we could use to dye our brown eggs was actually a fun challenge.
Skylar, Reyn, and I enjoyed finding out what we could use. We discovered some wonderful berry-type seed that grew on a neighbor's bush that worked well. We also used beets, onion skins, red cabbage, crayons, and more.
These days, our local Romero Supermarket usually carries food coloring.
I have had the best luck shopping for Easter at the Dollar Store (Todo del Dollar).
You can often find colorful plastic Easter eggs there, but not always. They almost always have baskets, woven, or in a pinch, plastic, to use. And in general, the dollar store is a good place to find all sorts of toys and other items for your Easter baskets.
Another pretty reliable option is City Mall. City Mall is like a Target, including the grocery store. They tend to have a good chocolate selection, some Easter-like, and various other holiday-appropriate knick-knacks and decorations.
After you dye the eggs, you have to hunt for them! At least, that is our belief.
Reyn and I enjoy hiding the eggs. And the kids love running around the yard looking for them.
We usually invite a few other kids in the neighborhood to join in the fun.
If you live in an expat dense area, someone might be hosting an Easter egg hunt. I'd check the various Facebook groups and ask around. Sometimes a school will put one on as a "cultural" event. If your child goes to a local school, you might want to suggest they have an egg dying and hunt event as part of a unit on how other cultures celebrate Easter.
Of course, we don't need to celebrate Easter here as we do in the States. But it was important for us to have our children feel part of both of their cultures - American and Panamanian. It is a personal choice. We have enjoyed it, even with all of its challenges.
This post was written in 2016. It was part of a larger post on Easter in Panama. But I felt it would be better as a separate article.
Just a few days ago, there was another beach clean up in our town of Puerto Armuelles.
As I was writing about Puerto's beach clean up, I thought I should say something about trash in Panama. Panama's litter and lack of garbage service is an obvious and unsightly issue. I intended to write a paragraph or so about it.
I have always considered myself as someone who cares about the environment, certainly not a fanatic, but it is something I consider. I try to use reusable water bottles, cut up those plastic bands that hold 6-packs of soda together, bike instead of drive sometimes, and such actions. Basically, I am an environmentalist when it is convenient to be an environmentalist.
However, my research for that paragraph has opened my eyes and radically strengthened my commitment to the environment. The short paragraph or so I had planned on writing has expanded to this longish article you are reading now.
Puerto's beach cleanup, while commendable, is simply an aside to the bigger issue of trash, particularly plastic trash, in Panama and around the world.
Maybe the information in this article will open your eyes more fully as well.
It can be dismaying for North Americans & Europeans to see all the litter and piles of garbage in Panama and in Central America overall.
One reason you see so much trash here is that the composition of trash has changed. The popularity of processed foods with its non-biodegradable packaging, styrofoam dishware, and the now-ubiquitous plastic bags and bottles have changed the character of litter and garbage.
In North America, this change happened many years before its impact was fully felt in Central America. Panama has not had the time nor education to change their traditional garbage disposal habits.
Back in the day, dumping your trash in a pile, into the ocean or burning it did not have all the negative impacts it has today. Not that long ago, all or almost all the trash was bio-degradable.
Now a big percentage of the garbage consists of plastic bags, styrofoam dishware, and other non-biodegradable packaging and items of all kinds. For instance, styrofoam dishware and building products like M2 have a lifespan of about 500 to 1,000 years. And such products are increasingly popular.
Check out our article about building your house with M2. It includes a discussion of M2's impact on the environment.
Fish and animals are eating our discarded plastics and other toxic substances. The trash is no longer being composted to be part of the earth once more. This problem is huge. Not just for Panama, but for the planet and its animals.
Later on in this article, I discuss ways that the Panamanian government is trying to solve this problem by endorsing zero waste and clean sea initiatives, banning plastic bags, and more.
One of the reasons for the abundance of litter in Panama is the lack of garbage cans in public spaces. If there are no garbage cans and no community-consensus that littering is unacceptable, what happens to empty juice boxes and wrappers? They are dropped on the ground of course.
And even when a city provides garbage cans they are often not emptied on a regular basis. Failure to empty over-flowing garbage cans indicates to the public that the government does not think that piles of garbage are an issue. It encourages an "if the city cannot be bothered to pick up the trash, why should I" mentality.
Garbage pick up from homes is also an issue. Many people don't want to or cannot pay the $4 - $6/month for garbage pick up. And in some areas, especially more rural areas, garbage service is not available.
Lack of adequate garbage service and public health education results in many people in less dense neighborhoods burning their trash. Other people throw it in ravines, into rivers, or another out-of-the-way spot.
A lot of that garbage makes its way into rivers and then on to beaches and then into the ocean.
According to Panama's Urban and Domiciliary Cleaning Authority (AAUD), the country produces more than 4000 tons of waste, out of which some 480 tons find its way into the Bay of Panama. And the Bay of Panama is only one part of Panama's ocean.
Efforts to combat litter and clean the environment are growing. And growing rapidly. Over the last 2 years alone, many more initiatives, pilot programs, and more are being pursued by both community groups and the government.
In January 2018, Panama became the first Central American country to ban the use of plastic bags.
This means that starting July 20, 2019, your groceries will no longer be bagged using plastic in Panama.
Supermarkets, pharmacies and retailers in Panama must stop using traditional polyethene plastic bags by July 20, 2019. Larger and wholesale stores will have 6 more months, until February 20, 2020, to stop using single-use plastic bags.
Starting on July 20th, shop owners are required to replace plastic bags with more environmentally friendly options like containers made of non-polluting materials or reusable plastic. They can sell their customers these reusable bags or containers at cost.
There is an exception. Article 3 of this Law also establishes an exception: "it is not applicable when polyethylene bags must be used to contain processed or pre-prepared foods or wet items and it is not feasible the use of a substitute compatible with the minimization of the environmental impact".
The goal of the law is to reduce plastic consumption by 20% across Panama. Any fines imposed for non-compliance will be used to support recycling programs.
UPDATE: post-July 20th, read how Panama's plastic ban is a success.
About Plastic Bags. In the early 1960s, the "T-shirt" plastic bag which supermarkets use was invented by a Swedish engineer, Sten Gustaf Thulin. By the mid-1980s these single-use grocery bags were used extensively in Europe and in North America. In 1997, Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean. It is a huge floating island mostly made up of discarded plastic bags and other plastic items.
Plastic bags come from the same source as all plastic: crude oil. It takes approximately 400 years for just 1 plastic bag to decompose. And that plastic bag, on average, is used to carry things for only 12 minutes. It is mind-boggling when you start to think about it. To find out more about the history of the plastic bag, click here.
On May 30, 2018, Panama further committed to a clean environment by passing its Zero Waste (Cero Basura) Policy.
What does zero waste mean? Every jurisdiction seems to have a slightly different take on it.
In general, zero waste is a new approach and philosophy to how we think of garbage, of product design, of packaging and more. One way to describe it is that a zero waste policy seeks to maximize recycling, minimize waste, reduce consumption and ensure that products are designed and made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace.
Less consumption, bio-degradable packaging, recycling and composting are 4 of the most obvious ways to get closer to zero waste.
The County of Hawaii's approach (below in italics) on zero waste may be a philosophy that Panama's indigenous population would appreciate. I know the Kuna people of Panama have embraced a similar approach.
"Zero Waste" is a way of life that promotes the goal of reducing the amount of material we throw away and instead reincorporating by-products of one system for use for another system. There is no such thing as "waste" in Nature. In nature, the by-product of one system is feedstock for another system. Only humans have created this thing like "waste." Ancient Hawaiian culture lived this way before the term "Zero Waste" came to be. We can live this way again through small shifts in our daily activities. In this way, we greatly reduce our impact on Hawai'i Island's natural environment, and how much rubbish we generate, protect Hawai'i Island's natural environment, preserve our resources for future generations, and save our community tax dollars.
Zero Waste is a global trend. More cities and countries are committing to zero waste as it is becoming increasingly clear that it is the only way to deal with the world's looming garbage crisis.
I am not sure what Panama, as a nation, intends to do in order to accomplish or at least get nearer to zero waste. I have seen flyers, like the one above, that the mayor of Panama City published. On the national level, I cannot find anything except some dense and jargon-filled statements about it. They are so vague as to be meaningless.
However, Panama's zero waste policy is still new and it is a very complex topic. Stating it as a goal is a good first step. Figuring out how to accomplish it will be Panama's challenge in the years to come.
Panama was the first in Latin America and the Caribbean to join the UN Environment's CleanSeas campaign. The campaign's focus is on fighting marine plastic pollution.
The CleanSeas campaign aims to raise awareness of what plastic waste is doing to our oceans, our wildlife and ourselves. To help reduce plastic pollution, the campaign is targeting the production and consumption of non-recoverable and single-use plastic.
As Erik Solheim, UN Environment’s Executive Director states:
“Our aim is to redefine the world’s relationship with plastics because that is the only way to save our seas. Only by fundamentally transforming the way we consume can we secure the oceans that sustain human life. What we need is a revolution.”
Since it launched in February 2017, 60 countries have joined the campaign with many making specific commitments to protect oceans, encourage recycling and cut back on single-use plastics. Those countries cover more than 60 percent of the world’s coastlines.
Panama, a country with almost 3,000 kilometers of coast in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, is pushing for comprehensive reforms that will improve its relationship with oceans. For instance, Panama is currently drawing up a national plan and legislation to combat marine litter.
In fact, 2 deputies very recently introduced Bill 170 to eliminate styrofoam in Panama. The bill proposes to prohibit styrofoam from coastal areas and in public places in general. As of April 17, 2019, it is under consideration by the Commission of Population, Environment, and development.
You may want to check this video (below) that I found on the Clean Seas website (cleanseas.org). It covers plastic's history, impacts, and the complexities in finding a solution to plastic & plastic waste.
All the efforts to raise environmental awareness in Panama seem to be working. At least, there has been a definite upswing of community groups participating in clean-up campaigns over the last 2 or 3 years.
In years past, people would generally get together once a year to clean up the beaches after the rainy season. Now such cleanup efforts are much more frequent.
This last weekend alone, April 6-7, there were a number of cleanups in Panama. The one I mentioned in Puerto Armuelles occurred on April 7th. You can find out more about Puerto's beach cleanup here.
Another successful cleanup event this last weekend happened at Panama's Matias Hernadez river.
The Marea Verde Association is conducting a pilot program called BOB, which stands for Barrera o Basura. (In English, Barrier or Garbage).
BOB is basically a tied together line of large orange floating buoys (see photo). BOB reminds me of the barriers used to make swimming lanes in a pool, but much bigger.
BOB's buoys are stout enough to capture all the garbage floating downstream.
Generally, they install BOB across a river before a big storm in order to stop any garbage flowing down the river. Then they collect that garbage so it does not end up on beaches and in the ocean.
Most recently, they installed BOB on the Matias Hernadez river in anticipation of last Saturday's storm. This "dam" captured an enormous number of plastic bottles and other garbage.
The Marea Verde Association did a fabulous job cleaning up the river. Without their efforts, all that garbage would now be in the Bay of Panama (Bahia de Panama).
In another part of Panama, the students from the International Academy of Boquete spent this last weekend cleaning up the well-known Quetzales trail in the National Forest reserve. In addition, the Marabuntas Chiriqui group organized a community clean up of the river in Dolega on April 7th.
I'm sure there were more cleanup efforts I have not heard about. And I imagine there will be even more activity on Earth Day (April 26th)
Without a doubt, more and more people are organizing to clean up Panama's outdoor spaces. A commendable community service.
There is also a greater awareness of the negative attributes of littering, a greater desire not to see trash littered on the ground. Even looking around our small town of Puerto Armuelles you will see many more "Prohibido Tirar Basura" (no littering) signs than you saw in years past.
As you have read, nationally, there has been a much greater commitment to a garbage-free landscape. And there are signs of it in various cities as well. For instance, I have seen public recycling bins in David's Parque Central (central park).
As the public's environmental awareness increases, there must be some infrastructure changes as well. Small, but critical items that will encourage and positively reinforce the growing desire to keep the planet clean.
One of the best ways to change cultural attitudes about trash is in schools. Panama already has various anti-littering programs in schools. Hopefully, expanding these programs and methods will not only help eliminate litter but also improve our environment worldwide.
Education is not enough. Garbage cans and garbage service are 2 critical items that need to be provided. But for the most part, public garbage cans are few and far between in Panama. There won't be an appreciable change in littering until many more public trash cans are provided. And those cans must be regularly emptied before they start to overflow.
Plus, local garbage service should be expanded. Paying for regular garbage service should be encouraged, if not required. For those that cannot afford it, subsidized or free garbage service should be considered.
Given a choice, most people want the city to haul away their trash. It is much easier than having to haul it to the nearest ravine or another unofficial garbage dump. And it is in the best interest of everyone to provide garbage disposal. Garbage dumped in ravines and elsewhere is almost guaranteed to end up on our beaches and into the ocean.
Of course, there are a number of issues not addressed here. For instance, what to do with the garbage once it is collected? Improperly managed landfills are a hazardous issue in Panama. Google "landfill fires in Panama" to find out more.
And what about recycling? Recycling sounds like an easy solution, but it is actually quite complex and is often too costly to accomplish. Now that China is no longer accepting the world's plastic and various other waste, it has become even more complex and costly.
It seems clear, "What we need is a revolution", as the UN Environmental director said. A revolution in the way we consume. A new philosophy that is closer to the "Leave No Trace" motto that backpackers & campers embrace.
In my opinion, a world-wide zero waste goal is impossible to achieve. However, perhaps we should try to get as close as we can.
For that reason, I was really pleased to learn that Panama has eagerly signed on to a number of worldwide and local initiatives to lessen's Panama's negative environmental impact.
We are still in the early days of the fight for the planet's health. I am happy that Panama is one of its warriors.
I have also revised the post to include more information about traffic tickets in Panama.
This post is a heads up. I want to make you aware of these new developments.
Life overseas has a reputation for being libidinous, debauched and bacchanalian.
Certainly, it can be all of those things, and in my many years as an expatriate, I have pursued all those possibilities.
However, life abroad can also be a path to spiritual enlightenment.
Being in another culture removes us from the familiar, expands our comfort zone and pushes us toward our growing edge, while offering a mirror in which to gaze upon our true selves.
Take the most basic experience: talking with someone. If you are in a country where English is not the official language, communication is an intense activity.
Your mind cannot wander; you cannot think about what you are going to say next or listen with half your brain and plan your day with the other. You have to focus intently on the person talking, so that you can understand the accented English they are speaking or decipher their native language.
Active listening, the cornerstone of any spiritual practice, can get rather tiring, which is probably why we don’t do it as often as we should at home.
In our native tongue, it is easy to pick up the thread of the conversation and ease back into the flow. In fact, many of us have developed exterior manifestations of good listening skills — gazing intently into someone’s eyes, nodding our heads periodically, making appreciative noises, etc. — but in reality, we are somewhere else, not really listening at all.
Expatriates, however, without the help of gurus or swamis, spending months in retreat, bending themselves into pretzels on the yoga mat or sitting for hours in meditation — just by the process of living overseas — learn to listen in the present moment, intently aware of what is going on around them. They learn to be mindful.
As they navigate the uncharted waters of a different culture, expats also tend to acquire patience. For only by moving slowly, without expectations, can they achieve their goals.
Being humble is also a bedrock of most spiritual practices, and living overseas is a perfect way to acquire that discipline.
Everything is different there — unusual foods, unfamiliar ways to get from one place to another, diverse types of stores and unfamiliar social mores, values and cultural expressions.
Moreover, we suddenly find that we are functionally illiterate: people talk to us, but we do not understand them; we open our mouths, but no one can decipher what we are saying.
All of these new experiences push us beyond our comfort zone, knock us off whatever pedestal we created for ourselves and bring us crashing back down to earth.
Immense strength can come from this position of vulnerability. It removes the defenses that have built up over the years, giving us the opportunity to view the world and ourselves from a different perspective, allowing us to develop the confidence to grow, evolve and change.
Living overseas is also about letting go. Being in another country can help us learn to accept what is and discard unrealistic expectations.
Being able to live contentedly in any country is about accepting whatever happens for what it is, and not judging it or getting frustrated with it for what it is not — in short, letting go of preconceived notions about how things should be done.
Though a life overseas does not guarantee the development of an open-minded spirituality, the potential is infinitely increased simply by virtue of being in new and interesting places on a more frequent basis.
Managed properly, approached thoughtfully, explored meaningfully, living overseas is probably the most mind-expanding and soul-enriching experience to be found outside of an ashram.
Reprinted from the Foreign Service Journal, September 2009 (with added subheadings), The Spirituality of Living Abroad, by Douglas E. Morris
Mr. Morris is the author of Open Road’s Best of Italy and other books.
If you liked this article, you may want to read How to be Happy in Paradise.
