An Afro-Caribbean Church

Snapshot of a replica of a picturesque wooden Afro-Caribbean church at Mi Pueblito in Panama City. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The original building of this church is in the neighborhood of Calidonia in Panama City.  It is now a museum depicting the Afro-Caribbean culture.

Afro-Caribbean people played a critical role in the construction of the Panama Canal at turn of the 20th century.  Without their contribution the international waterway would not have been accomplished.  They were strong, hard-working people who challenged the harsh condition of the steaming rainforest of Panama.

They came mainly from  Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Anguilla, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana (which although on the South American mainland is culturally similar to the Caribbean and was historically considered to be part of the British West Indies), and Belize.

Their knowledge of the English language was highly beneficial for the American authorities who wanted a workforce that understood the English language.  They were having communicating problems with people from other nationalities like Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Polish and other European countries.

Afro-Panamanians played a significant role in the creation of the Panama. Some historians have estimated that up to 50 percent of the population of Panama has some African ancestry. The descendants of the Africans who arrived during the colonial era are intermixed in the general population or live in small Afro-Panamanian communities along the Atlantic Coast and in villages within the Darién jungle.

Most of the Panamanian population of West Indian descent owe their presence in the country to the monumental efforts to build the Panama Canal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Three-quarters of the 50,000 workers who built the canal were Afro-Caribbean migrants from the British West Indies. Thousands of Afro-Caribbean workers were recruited from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.

It is estimated that about ten percent of the Panamanian population are Black (West Indian).  Their music, art, traditions, and lifestyle, constitute a significant part of the culture of the Panamanian melting pot.  Good Day.

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The Tradition of “Nacimientos” in Panama

The official religion of Panama is Roman Catholic.  Panama’s population is approximately 75 to 85 percent Roman Catholic and 15–25 evangelical Christian.  Our religion, together with our language and culture, was a contribution of Spain which conquered a large chunk of South America, Central America and North America at the end of the fifteenth century.

One of the main traditions during the Christmas season in Panama, is to set up a symbolic birthplace of Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger together with his parents.  In Spanish the birthplace is called “nacimiento”, meaning birthplace or nativity scene.  You’ve guessed it, this tradition was handed over to us from Mother Spain.

Since I was a kid, we always had a “nacimiento” in our home for Christmas.  It was meticulously designed, organized and set up by my mother.  It had valleys, mountains, rivers, wells, ducks, donkeys, shepherds, camels, angels, and just about everything you can think of.  In the middle of the nacimiento was the Holy Family–infant Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Joseph, the carpenter.  Over the years, Santa Claus crept in from the North, as well as the evergreen tree.  Since these Christmas traditions were part of the American culture of the neighboring Panama Canal Zone for almost one hundred years, it rubbed into our own way of life.

Nativity scenes exhibit figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother Mary, and Joseph. Other characters from the nativity story such as shepherds, the Magi, and angels may be displayed near the manger in a barn (or cave) intended to accommodate farm animals. A donkey and an ox are typically depicted in the scene, as well as camels belonging to the Magi.

Distinctive nativity scenes and traditions have been created around the world and are displayed during the Christmas season in churches, homes, shopping malls, and other venues, and occasionally on public lands and in public buildings.

After a decline of nacimientos in Panama for many years, the tradition is slowly coming back.  I’m noticing more nacimientos in churches, commercial entities and homes.  Panamanian families are struggling to rescue a tradition that almost went into oblivion replaced by Santa Claus and the Christmas tree.

My wife placed a nacimiento in a small table in our living room yesterday afternoon following our Christian traditions.  We are preparing the scenario for the upcoming celebration of Christmas.  A Christmas wreath was also placed on our front door.  Diligently I took a shot of the birthplace to share our Christmas customs with the readers of Lingua Franca.  It will give you an idea how Christmas is celebrated in this part of the world.

Snapshot of a nativity scene in the living room of our house. It is part of the Christmas tradition in Panama and many countries in Latin America and Spain. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

For us, a Christmas without a “nacimiento” is no Christmas at all. This year we don’t have a Santa Claus or a Christmas tree in our house. We have decided to go back to our roots. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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The Holistic Development of the Human Being

Most of the time, I listen to managers and political leaders talk exclusively about economic growth.  Their single concern is economic development, and how that benefits the population of a country.  Economic rate of growth and the relationship between  public debt and the GDP (Gross Domestic Product),  is at the core of their discourses.

There’s nothing wrong with that.  I too believe in those assessments, but I feel they are not enough.  The human being needs  other types of stimuli besides money.  Take for example Norway.  It’s a rich country with a high degree of economic development, yet a confused citizen one day decides to go out and murder several young students in an island.  Why is that?  Well, I think he was confused and did not understood the reality around him.  His spirit was in a state of chaos.

What I’m trying to say, is that there must be a balance between economic and spiritual growth.  That’s what makes a healthy human being—the balance between the body and spirit.  I’m seeing that the the latter is being considered by our authorities.  Many museums are in the process of being renovated across the nation.  The purpose is to have special venues where Panamanian citizens can study their history, culture, and traditions, and understand who they really are as a nation.  It’s truly realizing their intimate self identity.  Museums play a critical role in making those cultural aspects come alive to the growing younger generation of citizens.

I recently assisted to a amazing exhibition at  the Museo Antropológico Reina Torres de Araúz (Reina de Araúz Antropological Museum) in the former Canal Zone, depicting the jaw-dropping accomplishments of Leonardo Da Vinci.  What I saw there is difficult to describe in printable words.  This citizen of the world was a genius, a painter, and inventor of the Italian Renaissance.  He’s mainly known for painting the Mona Lisa—the woman of the mysterious smile.

During the next few days, I’ll post several snapshots I took while strolling through the halls of this wonderful venue donated to the Republic of Panama by the people of Taiwan during the administration of Mireya Moscoso.   While I savored the exhibition, I thought I was at the Louvre in Paris or the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  It was that good, and I felt proud it was being held in my hometown.

Below are several pictures of the venue,  so you will get a general idea of where this cultural event took place.  Here we go.

Snapshot of the sign at the entrance of the Museo Antropológico Reina Torres de Araúz located in Albrook, in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

General view of the parking lot of the museum at approximately two o'clock in the afternoon. It was a suffocating hot humid afternoon with dark clouds in the sky preamble of a tropical cloudburst. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

In this picture you can see more cars as visitors were coming in for the exhibition organized by the National Institute of Culture (INAC). The name in Spanish is Instituto Nacional de Cultura under the Ministry of Government and Justice. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

 The main objective of the INAC is to coordinate and promote the cultural and folkloric activities in the country.  The INAC currently manages 23 venues dedicated to the teachings of a wide variety of artistic expressions.  It supervises 13 regional centers, manages the Anita Villalaz Theater, the National Theater, the Balboa Theater; coordinates the activities of the Symphonic Orchestra, and the Panama National Ballet.

In addition, it is responsible of managing 18 museums, amongst them, the Museum of Religious Art, the Anthropological Museum Reina Torres de Araúz, and the Afro-Caribbean Museum.

In this picture of the museum, you can see the postcard announcing the Leonardo Da Vinci's exhibition on the wall. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of the entrance of the museum with a large poster of the Mona Lisa to catch the eyes of the visitors. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of the museum with its attractive tower. It is a very modern structure with a pleasing architecture style. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

You are cordially invited to return tomorrow and appreciate more pictures of the singular exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Republic of Panama.  You will not regret it.  Good Day.

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An Antillean Church on a Hill

Snapshot of a large concrete ramp with a wooden African-Caribbean church in the background. This is an exact replica of a church located in downtown Panama where it houses a cultural museum about life in the Antilles (Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Martinique and others). Photo ©Omar Upegui R., .

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A Traditional Panama Miniature Nativity Scene

When I was a kid, I remember helping my mother prepare the nacimiento or miniature nativity scene.  In Spain and Colombia they are called pesebres.  It is a very traditional Roman Catholic custom in Panama.  We collected carton boxes to represent the hills and used sand and mirrors to make miniature roads and ponds.  Every year we would buy a few houses and miniature shepherds to make the nacimiento larger.  When mom lighted the nacimiento there was magic in our house.

Then came Santa Claus and the tradition started to fade away.  It was hard to look the other way when there was an ubiquitous Santa singing Ho, Ho, Ho.   Now the Roman Catholic church is promoting the nacimientos again in Panama.  Slowly, but surely, many houses are currently decorated with nacimientos of different sizes and complexity.  Yesterday I went to see one located a couple of houses where I live at Residencial El Bosque in Panama City.

The owner of the house is Francisco Bustamante and he has been upgrading his nacimiento for over ten years.  All of his garage is the scene of the birthplace.  This year he added a bedroom of his home totally dedicated to kids, but that’s another story, maybe for tomorrow.

When I got to Mr. Bustamante’s house and got to see when he had for us this year; I was stunned.  It was the most spectacular nacimiento I have ever seen anywhere.  I needed more than two eyes to capture the full details of the splendid birthplace.  There were houses of different styles and shapes, elephants, horses, camels, dogs, roosters, hens, sheep, dogs, cows…and the list is endless.  There were almost as many animals as they were in Noaha’s ark.  Luckily I had my camera with me and these are the pictures of Mr. Bustamante’s magic place.  Take a look.

The scene of baby Jesus in the manger with his parents and the three kings of orient.

The details of a home in Bethlehem and the lighted trees in front of the house.

Notice how carefully the nacimiento was designed. The small river to your left was real flowing water powered by a small electric pump under the nacimiento.

A closer view of the flowing river and its immediate surroundings.

This is the scene of the Holy Family arriving in Egypt after fleeing from the rage of King Herod who wanted to kill the newly-born baby in Bethlehem.

A view of the magnificent entrance to the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Photo taken without a flash or tripod.

I hope you have enjoyed this pictures of a man who has dedicated more than ten years of his life traveling to many parts of the world buying additions to his beautiful nativity scene.  If you return tomorrow, I will show some of the pictures of a fantasy kids playground.  It covers a whole bedroom of Mr. Bustamante’s home.  Good Day.

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There is Nothing New Under The Sun

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. Sort of an odd number, but there’s a reason for it. That’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the first U.S. railroads.

But why like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad roads, and that’s the gauge they used. But why did they use that gauge then? Because the people who built the first roads used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

But why that particular wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old long-distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long-distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their own wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a Specification/Procedure/Process pamphlet and wonder “What horse’s ass came up with this?”, you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses (actually, two horses’ asses). Now, then, another twist to the story.

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid fuel rocket boosters (or, SRBs). The SRBs afre made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.

The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad truck, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a couple of horses’ asses. And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important? Ancient horses’ asses control almost everything…..and current horse’s asses are controlling everything else.

Source:  Bits & Pieces

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