Thanksgiving in Panama

I am grateful for an endless amount of things. And don't you all worry, I will get to that. But I have no choice but to start off by saying that some Panamanians celebrate Thanksgiving. Its strange but really not all that surprising. American holidays, and really anything American catches on very quickly here. Right now the majority of the houses in my community have Christmas lights up. More than on my street back home. Once again, slightly strange considering that they are living in “poverty” based on income levels, but hey their houses are glowing beautifully every night. As for Thanksgiving though, it appears to be that the Panamanians that celebrate it, mainly the folk from the capital, and wealthy people, really do just celebrate it as a day to give thanks. I’ve spoken to my community about it, they all know about thanksgiving but they don’t know the history about the U.S. version of it. It was a good opportunity for me to share some of our history with them. My favorite part however, is that Black Friday is a thing here. Consumerism taking over the world one poor nation after another.


As for my first Thanksgiving in Panama, it was incredible! Also slightly overwhelming. For Thanksgiving all the Peace Corps Volunteers get together. All 200 of us! We basically rent out an entire hotel in the mountains of Chiriqui. A gorgeous cozy cabin like hotel. It felt incredible to be in the chilly mountains sitting next to a fireplace inside a spacious room made of wood and not concrete in the company of so many cheerful people. It certainly set the mood for the upcoming day.

We spent two nights there. The first day after we dropped off our things in our rooms, we headed out to the main are where every one was just relaxing. Talk about meet and greet. There were at least a 100 people there that I had never met before. Needless to say, I still do not remember all of there names. In the evening everyone gathered around for the talent show. It was wonderful to just relax and see all the talented folk perform. All of us just filling the couches, the floor, every available spot and enjoying the show. Thanksgiving is the only time during the year that all the volunteers get together and it really is a bit surreal. After being the only English speaking person in site for months and months, to go to Thanksgiving which feels like a mix between a big family reunion and college. I can’t wait for next year. After the talent show the real celebrating began. It was great :)

The one with the "emotionless" face works in a indigenous community, apparently they don't smile there. He has assimilated very well :P

Most of us started the next day off with a large breakfast. The rest of the day was full of relaxing by the fireplaces and playing sports outside in the freezing cold weather (probably 55 degrees or so. Unfortunately being the Panamanian that I now am, the next day I had developed a cold, fever and all). In the meantime, the incredible folk that had volunteered for kitchen duty, were working their shifts and cooking away from the early morning. Thank you all for doing an incredible job and making what has probably been the best meal that I have had in Panama thus far. 

Finally around 6 pm the line started to form. The line of 200 people. However I think that most would say that it was definitely worth the wait. What do you all out there think?


I am thankful for the amazing Thanksgiving day that I had here in Panama with incredible individuals from all around the U.S.A. I am thankful for being so lucky to have received Panama as my Peace Corps Country of Assignment. The people that I have met in this country, although often demonstrate their affection in different ways then we do back home, are some of the most caring and good-hearted individuals that I have met. I am thankful for the incredible community that I live in and all the friends that I have made that are my support system and hopefully life long friends. I am thankful for all the friends and family that I have back home, who also are extremely supportive, and although far away, and sometimes with less communication then ideal, I know that as soon as we talk, it will be as if I had never left (Minus all the marriages and babies of course, which are a pretty clear indication of how long I have been gone for). I honestly, could go on and on and on about the things I am thankful for. Even though sometimes I face obstacles and rough times, in the end things always fall into place. Exactly where they should be, even if I may not know it just yet at that moment.