Mother´s Day

Panamanian Mother ’s Day was so much much fun! During the day, our village put together various, Field Day-ish games for the mothers. Then, at the end of the day, they put together a very traditional event. They tied some money and alcohol into a little bag, and roped it to the top of a 25- 30 foot pole, greased with oil the way up. The village mothers then proceeded to construct human pyramids to fight their way to the top for it. It was hysterical! After nearly 2 hours, a combination of men and women finally made their way to the top and split up the contents of the bag. A lot of a work for a small profit, but it was all in the spirit of fun (and it kept the village entertained for hours!)

Later, the men came back with arroz con pollo (chicken and rice, a very Panamanian dish). In past years, apparently they’ve cooked, but I guess this year they got a little lazy and bought the dish down-river. Probably best that way, as men here don’t cook too often!

Before they had the big meal, other village elders helped to bring out the abuelita of the village from her house. This abuelita is the great, great grandmother of the village. In our village we have 5 generations, and she is the head of them all, the oldest member of our community (her husband Emiliano, one of our founders, passed away several years ago). When they brought her out, everyone just treated her like a queen, from her own children to her great, great grandchildren.

Here she is, the abuelita, queen of Embera Drua!

Me and my host mama (translate to Embera: mu papa!)