Culture and Celebrations
Panama is a country full of culture and celebrations! Every year at the end of February they have carnivals. Carnivals are a huge 4 day, 5 night celebration for the Queens. Every city has two Queens that compete to see who has the prettiest float, biggest fireworks, best dresses, etc. In the end there really is no winner, it’s just an excuse to get out and party! Everyone loves dancing. Dancing is something everyone does not only at parties but whenever there’s music! Next is Semana Santa, which is the week of saints. All the students are off school and most the parents don’t have to work. That week we eat fish almost every meal. Also there is Christmas and New Years, just like here in the USA but they celebrate it a little differently. When they celebrate Christmas it’s just a big party where everyone goes over to someone’s house, and same with New Years. They don’t give out presents and put cookies on the mantle for Santa like we do, but they sure know how to have a good time! Another celebration Panamanians have is called quince anos. Quince anos is like a sweet 16 birthday party, except for it is the coming of age for women at 15 years. At the quince anos, the father gives the daughter a ring, and the mother changes her shoes to high heels. A tradition in Panama is that for every birthday party, after they blow the candles out, they smear icing all over the birthday boy/girl! So it’s wise not to wear your best outfit!
There are many cultural difference in Panama. One thing is every one dresses up when they go out in public, especially in Panama City! Its VERY important how you look and smell. That’s how they judge people. The women and girls put a lot of work into their nails and makeup. Men are not juged so much by how they dress. How they judge the guys is usually by their chickens. If you have chickens, you have money. They don’t just eat their chickens, they usually fight their chickens a couple times a month. If your rooster wins, you win a good amount of money and usually a rooter more chickens too!
