Lin and I spent another day at the festival and I missed posting on day 16. I feared it wouldn’t be as good as the first day, but it was! This is what it looked like!
A Surprise on the Way Into the Fairground
As we walked by the vendors lining the street right outside the fairground, Lin saw a vendor with a boa constrictor. Instinctively I would have run the other direction, but he had one many years ago as a pet. So not only did he go up close to see it, but he allowed the vendor to put it on him—yikes! My worst nightmare! However, I did touch it—that’s it! Growing up with rattlesnakes gave me a healthy distaste for snakes.
The Huia Family
Richar Huia has a booth near the entrance of the fairgrounds. He’s an amazing artist and you can see some of his art on his Facebook page. We asked Richar and his wife, Gia, if we could leave our jackets there for later in the evening. They said yes with enthusiasm.
We hadn’t eaten lunch so Lin asked their oldest daughter, Mica, if she would like to go with us. I eyed her parents standing behind her and they both nodded yes.
So away we went! We let Mica choose because she’s there a lot and knows the best places to eat. What happened was hilarious! Her two favorite places were closed or should I say it was too early, so Lin chose one of the food vendors, and it was delicious.
Zumba Featured On the Main Stage
At the fairgrounds, they have a main stage where we sat the first night for the music. It’s where congregate because they feature different activities and artists.
That morning, I had attended my first Zumba class here in Boquete. The instructor wooed me with her enthusiasm and the students greeted me, making me feel at home immediately. Because I haven’t done it since 2019, I was rusty. And the nerve damage to my right leg made it harder, and I loved the movement and the Latin music.
And here they were—on the main stage, so I joined them before we ate for a short period and again was greeted with enthusiasm.
Where we ate, we watched them and listened to the lively music the leader played. It was wonderful.
After our meal, Lin treated me and the whole Huia family to ice cream. Then we went wondering.
I Bought Huaraches!
My goodness what is that?
“Traditional huarache designs vary greatly, but are always very simple. Originally made of all-leather, later designs included woven string soles and occasionally thin wooden soles. Subsequently, more elaborate upper designs were created by saddlers and leather workers.
The modern huarache developed from the adoption in the 1930s of making soles by recycling used rubber from automotive tires. Modern designs vary in style from a simplistic sandal to a more complex shoe, using both traditional leather as well as more modern synthetic materials”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huarache_(shoe)
For many years in my young adult life, I bought huaraches to wear in the summer because I visited Mexico a lot with my first husband and my travel friend, Lynn Hafer. Any time I went, that was one of the souvenirs I bought.
When we were at the fair the first time, I eyed all the huaraches and it touched my heart with rich memories of all the trips in made to Mexico. Immediately when we started wandering around, I told Lin, my husband, I had to have a pair of huaraches.
“So, let’s go in this building. I’m sure they will have some,” he responded with enthusiasm. We walked in and there they were—a whole array of huaraches in their original form and then some with bright colored straps. I chose the ones with the bright colored straps.
More Ice Cream
We grabbed one more scoop of ice cream—the first one with Mika was strawberry on a cone. My second was maracuyá or passion fruit in a cup. Then we continued looking around at the different vendors and enjoyed the crowds.
The prediction was that there would be about 200,000 attendees at the fair this year. When we went on Tuesday, we wondered where that number came from because the crowd was thin.
Friday night the crowd was overflowing!
Back to the Main Stage
We spent the rest of the evening back at the main stage. After the Zumba, the whole afternoon and evening focused on dancing from all over the world. During the afternoon, we saw many Panamanian dancers.
In the evening, we enjoyed dancers from Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Chile, Honduras, and Paraguay. We left about 9:00 PM so I’m sure there were many more.
What was fascinating was how the whole crowd celebrated the dancing and dancers on stage. It is truly an international language and phenomena!
I’m sorry to say I didn’t know all the countries affiliated with the dancers!
When we left, we grabbed a coffee and cinnamon roll and enjoyed the evening and the people.
Leaving
As we left after 9:00 PM, many people lined up to come in. They felt the evening was young. In fact the crowd overflowed coming into the fairgrounds!
Finally,
Another night at the International Flower and Coffee Festival proved to be as good as the first. Because I’m a dancer myself, this international celebration of dancing at the the International Flower and Coffee Festival made this “another day” even more special!
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