Music on the Plaza

Entertainment

There was an event today, sponsored by the municipal offices, in the central plaza of Boquete. It started off with a pet show, then an exhibition of dancing from a dance school in town. I didn’t go for that part, but I’m sure it was fun. By the time I arrived, there was quite a good crowd of people.

A substantial crowd of event attendees

There were food booths, commercial booths promoting various businesses, and one that was very interesting – it was a non-profit focused on saving birds like falcons and owls. They had a couple of birds with them, and did a little exhibition, having the falcon fly from one person to the other. It was also a photo op for attendees to have their picture taken with the birds and their handlers. Pretty cool!

I had some popcorn and a snow cone from a guy on a bicycle-powered cart. He shaved the ice from a big ice block, and had several flavors available. I chose peach, and it had finely diced peach bits in the syrup. He put something over the top of it after the flavoring was added – I’m pretty sure it was sweetened condensed milk. Whatever it was, it was really yummy!

I had an experience that was alternately awkward, funny, and annoying – a Panamanian guy saw me sitting in the shade, waiting for the live music to start, and plopped himself down beside me. He kept talking to me, telling me how beautiful my hair was, how beautiful I was, and what a good person I was. I couldn’t make out more than a few words of his Spanish, and when he tried to speak in English, it was so broken that it wasn’t any more understandable.

I think at one point he asked me if he could do some work at my house. Not sure about that, but I did make out the words trabajar (work) and casa. He kept talking for awhile, but I just gave him blank looks and said that I didn’t understand. He finally gave up and walked away, and I walked in the opposite direction.

The Boquete Rockstars

Later in the afternoon, there was live music from the Boquete Rockstars. They play most weekends at one or another of the local hangouts. I didn’t stay for more than a couple of their songs, but they were very good!

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