COFFEE

Mary Ellen and Randy have an Indian, Omar, who tends to their grounds.  During the growing season, the coffee plant starts off with a delicate white flower, which turns into a green berry, then ripens into a red "cherry".  During the coffee picking season (November - February) Omar recruits friends, big and small, to selectively hand-pick only the ripe red "cherries", leaving the green berries to ripen and be picked later.  This selective picking is more labor intensive and thus used for the finer, high-end Arabica coffee found here in Panama.  The workers are paid by the quantity of cherries picked.

The red cherries are bagged and must be taken to the coffee producer within a day or two of picking.  Mary Ellen and Randy have chosen Cafe Sitton to sell to and process their coffee.  We went with them to drop off several big bags of picked coffee.  It's weighed, then dumped into a large "underground" water vat for soaking, then many stages of processing.

The outer fruit or pulp of the cherry is removed at some point in the processing, revealing the coffee bean (seed).  Depending on the method used, the cherries before "cleaning", or just the beans, are dried on pavement in the sun.  Yes, November - February is considered part of the "dry" season here.

LOCAL COLOR around BOQUETE

(Lt. Steve walking up; Rt. view from top)

Why he's playing Peruvian pan flutes and is dressed as a North-American  Indian nobody could figure out ???  .  .  .

INDIGENOUS INDIANS of PANAMA

Panama has seven recognized indigenous Indian tribes that generally live in their own comarca, similar to an Indian reservation with it's protected area and own political system.  They have their own language distinct from Spanish.  Some of these tribes have blended in with the general population, while others have managed to hold on to their traditions and their own language. 

The provinces of Chiriquí (includes Boquete and David) and Bocas del Toro is home to the Ngöbé-Buglé (formerly Guaymí) tribe, which comprises roughly one-half of the indigenous population of Panama.  They speak Spanish but have attempted to preserve their traditional way of life.  Most notably is that the women and girls wear their traditional dress, call la nagua :  colorful, loose-fitting, full-length dress (almost mumu style), with a pinafore-type collar.  The collars, sleeves, waist and bottom are trimmed with what at first glance looks like rickrack, but upon closer inspection is tedious, labor-intensive, hand-embroidery.  Others are made by hand-sewn appliqués, piecing layers of different colored fabrics together on top of the dress material (a bit reminiscent of molas).  The jagged edges and bright colors mimic the surrounding mountains and forests.  The men and boys wear regular western dress.

Yes, it is a common sight to see these Indian women and girls wearing these dresses everyday whether they're in town, walking down the road or working on a coffee or other agricultural finca (plantation).

Probably the best known are the Kuna Indians who live in the Caribbean's San Blas Islands, a matriarchal society where the women make and sell molas.  The other Indian tribes are: the Emberá and Wounaan who live in the very wild Darién jungle (borders Colombia), the Bokatá (Bocas del Toro), the Bribri (Talamanca) (live near Costa Rica border), and the Teribe (speak their own language).

SPANISH CEREMONIAL DRESS

I saw an interesting and entertaining presentation on the pollera, the traditional and ceremonial Spanish dress for Panamanian women and girls, and currently the National Costume of Panama.  Typically, it takes about 1½ hours to be dressed; for this presentation it was crammed into an hour.  The pollera consists of a couple layers of white petticoats with ruffles and/or embroidery; an over-skirt with embroidery; a top with layered ruffles, resting off the shoulders, decorated with embroidery and yarn (and matching color pompom front and back); and slippers that match the yarn color.  Many gold chains (nine, I think if you're wealthy) are placed around the neck, each with it's own significance and design.  The hair is parted perfectly down the middle with 2 ponytails on either side at the back of the head.  The elaborate headdress is put into place individually (as opposed to putting on one big "hat").  It consists of many gold combs (mosquetas), and gold and pearl tembleques, which are made up of beads attached to a spring so they tremble and attract attention when the wearer moves or dances. 

The jewelry and head dressing are typically 10-carat gold for the affluent, otherwise gold-plated silver.  The polleras are hand-made, and passed down as heirlooms through generations.  Families save money for years in order to be able to provide a pollera for a daughter.  Polleras reflect your standing in society:  Affluent women have a new one each year; some may only have one as a girl and another when she reaches adulthood (quinceañera) at age 15.  Polleras generally cost several thousand dollars; the one shown above, based on the figures the presenter threw out, I'd guess would cost all total close to $10,000 (but don't quote me on that).

(Big thanks to Mark Heyer in Boquete for use of his photos, as I didn't have my camera that day.)

MONDONGO

This past weekend, we attended a mondongo, or mondongada party, thrown by cruisers Dottie & Larry, m/v Changes in Attitudes, who are building a house in Boquete (along with a bunch of other cruisers we know).

The Panama tradition is that when the roof goes on your house, you raise a red flag and throw an appreciation party for the workers thanking them for their hard labors.  As the party was originally for the workers, mondongo was typically served.  Mondongo (which I think translates to "innards") is a soup delicacy made from tripe (cow's stomach, intestines) and is similar to menudo in Mexico.  As things evolved, the party's invitee list was broadened to include the owner's family and friends.

Fortunately, Dottie & Larry think well of their friends and instead of serving mondongo, served up hamburgers, hotdogs and more along with copious amounts of beer and wine.

  MEDICAL STUFF

We recently did our annual routine physical exams in David, and as usual, are very pleased with the medical attention we receive, the responsiveness of the doctors, and how affordable it is compared to the USA.  The very efficient laboratory posts our lab results online so they are readily available to us and our doctors.  (See text boxes.)For medical recommendations, see our David & Boquete Area Recommendations write-up. 

Looking and feeling healthy!