Travel Journal:

Panamaniac - Las Tablas is gearing up for Carnaval


Las Tablas is gearing up for Carnaval 2-24-06
 
there are buses arriving from everywhere and the streets are getting packed. vendors are setting up their stands with hats, sun glasses,  water bottles, beer, and all the nasty snacky chip things they eat here. This is a fairly large town of 10,000 and apparently 100,000 come for carnaval every year. It´s pretty urban ... maybe 10 square blocks of shops and apartments lined up along narrow streets. All the men wear Panama hats with the brim turned up in front and back, with nice slacks and pressed button shirts, and many have thick, wide mustaches. This province, Los Santos, is supposed to be the one that has retained the most Spanish influence. The people definitely have lighter skin.

We are staying with Caleb's Peace Corps friend, John, who has a pretty nice second-floor apt with a balcony a few blocks from the center of town. He has a spare bedroom and Anna and I nabbed the bed last night, but it has been promised to two other girls who are supposed to show up tonight, so it will probably be the nasty tile floor from here on out. Tonight there will be a massive street party with fireworks and drinking in the street, then later a parade and the coronation of the carnaval queen.
 
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