David Knows Parades
(Click on thumbnails to view photos full size)
Friday turned out to be quite the festive day here in David – at least the central downtown David. Although there was no advertising of a big event, not even a mention in the various news sources, there was a warning (of sorts) on Thursday afternoon of things to come. Several different crews came in and set up tents in the small entertainment corner of the park – a sure sign that something is on the horizon.
Well sure enough about 9:30 Friday morning I am enjoying a relatively peaceful morning on the hotel balcony overlooking the park, sipping my morning coffee and reading the day’s New York Times (Kindle version), when I hear a siren in the distance. That hardly drew any attention because that is not uncommon. A minute or so later however the siren did have my
attention because it did not appear to be moving. Oops – that means (usually) only one thing. The tranquil morning was about to end. The lead elements in all the many parades here in David is a police escort of some type. The siren sound that did not seem to be moving in all probability was a police car moving at a snail’s pace as the escort of a parade. About 10 minutes later the parade arrived, led by two police escort riding the newest addition to the police force’s fleet – 4-wheel ATVs. And the parade line went out of sight back up the avenue. Better settle in Matthews, this is going to take a while!
After about 2 ½ hours it seemed to me as if everyone in David must have been in this parade, as well as people from the surrounding suburban areas – and some of them may have come by my vantage point twice! There were civic groups represented, fraternal organizations, special interest groups, government agencies (city, province and federal), universities, both high schools and elementary schools, sports team, business associations, police organizations, fire department stations, various businesses and, I am certain, some I missed and others I have forgotten. Some groups were in costumes of one sort or another. Some came complete with bands, and others were content to just chant in unison (most of which I did not comprehend). And most of the groups carried signs identifying not only their group and/or affiliations, but whatever cause they were pushing today. The police, fire department and military schools provided a number of drill teams. And those groups, as well as several schools supplied a lot of marching bands.
What Was The Occasion?
What was the occasion, the driving force for this big celebration? I thought that was a pretty logical question. Everyone I initially asked did not seem to see it as such. A lot of Panamanians flocked to the balcony when the commotion started, both hotel guests and employees. I would ask what I thought was the obvious question, “What’s the occasion today?” I would get a cheery response, “It is a parade.”
“Uh….I know it is a parade,” I would try again, “but why? What is the reason?” That is when I would get the look – the look reserved for dealing with idiots. Idiots that operate under the illusion that one needs a ‘reason’ for a parade. So I gave up that research project. I should note at this point that there are so many holidays, celebrations, fairs, festivals, parades, concerts, etc, etc, in this country – some local, others province unique and others with a historical, religious or national basis – that it is not unusual for the ‘man in the street’ to be clueless about the reason the day’s celebration, or store closing or street blockage. Often even people who should know like the people on the hotels front desk or even the policeman in the park just shrug when asked.
As I found out later in the evening yesterday was one of those ‘holidays’ that is not really a holiday common here in Panama. A lot of people celebrating but no businesses closed and no one with a paid holiday off. And the main idea was it was a ‘Peace Day’ – with ‘peace’ used in its broadest sense.
Here are groups signs pushing for broad goals:
The Fountain of Knowledge
Excellence in Education
Strong Value Systems
And others are pushing specific values
Honesty
Humility
End Violence
Peace and Friendship for the World
And Then ‘The Show’ In The Park
The parade ended and then both the marchers and spectators gathered in the park for a big hoe-down celebration that lasted for another hour. There was the ‘normal’ bands playing, dancers doing there thing, and speeches and what appeared to be public service announcements. But this hootenanny had a couple of interesting and imaginative twists.
The first surprise was when this float came down the street. It obviously was depicted these fellows partying. And based on the dress and demeanor of the fellow in the driver’s seat of the car he was depicting the results – a drunk driver. And yes, the police arrived in mass to stop these guys.
The Party Guys
A DUI Coming
Police To The Rescue
The second surprise was when this float pulled up about the time everyone thought the celebration was over. This group of youngsters
did several excellent pantomime skits depicting violence, both domestic and the street type, with a concentration on the impact on innocent bystanders. The domestic violence segments concentrated on the kids that were present and witnessing the terror. The photo on right shows how the kids have run from the room and are crouched behind the (cardboard) ‘wall’. Impressive and forceful.
The End Of A Long Day
Friday evening about 8PM several of us where sitting in the bar at the Iris Hotel discussing the earlier festivities. More precisely we were sitting on the bar’s balcony which also overlooks the park (thus its name ‘Vista’) when there was suddenly a commotion coming down the street. Are those slow moving sirens? Yes another parade!
I did not have my camera with me, but this one was equally impressive although only about 20 minutes long. (Which I think pretty much stretched the patience of the vehicle drivers in the downtown area).
In this parade large groups of what appeared to be college students were marching in groups. One group would be carrying flags from countries around the world, the next group would be singing while carrying flaming torches. That mix was repeated through the entire parade with an occasional marching band intermixed. And this parade did not stop at the park it wrapped around the park and marched back in the direction that it came from. It was a very impressive site. A police officer explained later that this was “The Parade Of Flags For Unity.”
Quite a day in David! And today, as I have been writing this, there have been various groups of kids dancing in the park in what may be the world’s biggest dance recital. Ha
My Book – ‘Angels in Panama’
My book is still available at a reasonable price paperback from the publisher.
The book is also available in e-book form as well from both Amazon (for the Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (the Nook).
The links below are for the various formats of my book.
I have also included a link to my website where you can read excerpts of ‘Angels in Panama’ if you want.
Paperback From Publisher $9.95
Till Next Time. Pura Vida!
more parade photos
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