Panamanians and Easter (Semana Santa)
After carnivals, probably the most amazing holidays in the calendar year where the population throws its inhibitions to the wind in the spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah, the celebration meets a screeching halt in the form of Lent, these brakes properly greased by Jesus and powered by religion. After this break in the festivities then, we are met with yet another holiday that should be (in theory) the Ying to carnival’s Yang: Holy Week, or “Semana Santa” for those of you aching to brush up on your Spanish. The equivalent to Easter, Holy Week deals with no humanoid rabbits or their festively decorated eggs and instead gives the entire Panamanian population an extended weekend so men, women and children can repent and seek salvation from God. Holy Friday is a day off by way of Panamanian law, and since we folks are very prone to taking days off for the flimsiest of excuses most privately owned businesses work until noon on Thursdays and it’s “smell you later” all the way ‘til Monday. This is not the case for offshore companies, since their target business resides elsewhere and that elsewhere usually doesn’t enjoy as many holidays as we do, nor is it applicable to a lot of business specializing in services (i.e: restaurants, supermarkets) because if there’s one thing people love to do on their day off is eat and consume ridiculous amounts of goods. Friday is special because not only is it free holiday, but a dry law is applied to it starting midnight and it goes all the way through until Saturday at noon. It shouldn’t matter though, since all we do during this time is reflect in our lifes, set goals, search for Christ in our souls and be calm and true to one another, right? Right…?
Watch the supermarkets flocked with people buying as much alcohol as they possibly can. There will be a drought in rum, seco, vodka and everything in between… and a Panamanian cannot, I repeat, cannot repent without being drunk. After all, people are at their most honest when they’re drunk.
Not everyone is that way though; there’s also another reality that is worthy of noting that takes their religion very seriously. Too seriously. It’s history time, kids: have you ever heard of a documentary called Jesus Camp? It’s a chilling film that focuses on a children’s Christian camp and how the headmaster there is teaching them the ways of the Lord in such a way that they become fanatical soldiers for God in the coming Holy War to End All Wars. It’s quite disturbing, and it shows how people can take things too far and are never stopped when they are covered by the mantle of religion… when you train kids to pray at a cardboard cutout of George Bush at Bible Camp, something is inherently wrong with that program. I don’t mean to get political because it’s not the time nor the place for it but if you would like more insight on the film, take a look at this discussion about the movie moderated by Bill Maher.
Though things aren’t as extreme as they are in the footage shown of “Jesus Camp,” There are a lot of Panamanians that take their religion seriously. We are Latinos, after all, and despite the influx of ethnic cultures that are appreciated and respected (somewhat) there exists a large group of the citizenship that is very devoted to the Christian/Catholic religion. And it’s in that massive section of the populace you have hardcore believers that see this Holy Week thing as their version of carnivals, replacing the hardcore partying for hardcore praying. YEAH!
The similarities between Carnivals and Holy Week are not readily apparent at first glance but let me put it all in perspective for you: both are celebrations that people look forward to as soon as the last edition of festivities comes to pass. Both of these celebrate the grandeur of a god (Carnivals refer to celebration of the Greek god Momos, lord of sarcasm, mockery, writers and poets; Holy Week refers to the celebration of, well, Jahweh) in the span of 4 days. Both of these celebrations are capped off by blocking the roads and doing parades with pretty cars and decorations. Both of these have mobs composed of people who are really into what they’re celebrating. You can read on the backstory of Carnivals right here. Right now though, allow me to introduce you to the concept of Holy Week. Stop! Wiki time:
Holy Week in the Christian year is the week immediately preceding Easter. The earliest allusion to the custom of marking this week as a whole with special observances is to be found in the Apostolical Constitutions (v. 18, 19), dating from the latter half of the 3rd century A.D. In this text, abstinence from wine and flesh is commanded for all the days, while for the Friday and Saturday an absolute fast is commanded. Dionysius Alexandrinus in his canonical epistle (260 A.D.), refers to the six fasting days implying that the observance of them had already become an established usage in his time.
There is some doubt about the genuineness of an ordinance attributed to Constantine, in which abstinence from public business was enforced for the seven days immediately preceding Easter Sunday, and also for the seven which followed it; the Codex Theodosianus, however, is explicit in ordering that all actions at law should cease, and the doors of all courts of law be closed during those fifteen days (1. ii. tit. viii.). Of the particular days of the “great week” the earliest to emerge into special prominence was naturally Good Friday. Next came the Sabbatum Magnum (Holy Saturday or Easter Eve) with its vigil, which in the early church was associated with an expectation that the second advent would occur on an Easter Sunday. Encyclopedia Britannica, entry “Holy Week.”
There are other texts that refer to the traditions of the Early Church, most notably The Pilgrimage of Etheria (also known as The Pilgrimage of Egeria) which details the complete observance of Holy Week in the early church.
You can check out the official breakdown of celebration in Western culture by clicking here. Now that we have that out of the way, I can tell you with utmost certainty that there is a mass exodus to the interior, one so monumentally large that the city is a ghost town as early as Thursday afternoon. As I mentioned earlier, Panamanian law makes Holy Friday an official holiday, yet Thursday and Saturday are regular working days. BUT, since most privately-owned Panamanian company owners are either:
a) Christian
b) Jumping at the chance for a free weekend
What they usually do is have their workforce labor until noon and then wrap it up until Monday. It’s become somewhat of the norm until, as mentioned earlier as well, offshore companies came into the picture. Panamanians have become spoiled and I am guilty of it too, in the sense that for every Holy Week(end) I go into Carnival preparation mode, since the M.O works remarkably well in this instance. The only difference is that I buy alcohol beforehand for “Semana Santa” because I won’t be able to do so when I arrive to the beach on Holy Friday. The mood in the interior is exactly the same as the mood would be during carnivals or our patriotic, marathon holidays in November but without the elements that make each holiday what they are: you relax, chill out, drink, eat, have sex, hang out with your friends and loved ones in what can be amounted to “having a good time.” I think that an underlying difference Holy Week carries with it and makes it stand out from all other holidays though is that since it’s a holiday given to us by way of religion (no matter what you feel about it, religion is not something you want to mess around with), people tend to take it easy and cut back on their vices. It’s like a crisis of conscience: since the Lord is watching you from above and seeing everything you do, to use the holiday given to you and stemmed from the death and rebirth of his son so that you can go to your beach house and get drunk with your buddies before sleeping with whoever’s readily available could be considered somewhat hypocritical. So people take it easy.
Back in the city though, it’s chaos of biblical proportions during the night. Even though there have been more people in the city during Holy Week that in past years, something most definitely influenced by the presence of offshore companies and their disregard for the Panamanian way of life, the city still feels rather deserted during the day; it’s another story once night falls, though. As has been a practice for several years, the Panamanian Transit Authority blocks off two of the main arteries in the city so that the church can have its parade for 4 days straight. The result is a traffic jam so large it’s ridiculous! Due to the fact that we’re a small country with too many cars driving in our streets, gridlock is pretty inevitable when you don’t have roads blocked off. Now, the roads that are blocked off in Panama City are Avenida Balboa, the avenue that overlooks the Panama Bay, and Calle 50, both of them linked by the hip. The route of the parade starts off at the Christian church placed right at the beginning of Ave. Balboa and goes all the way through it, only to take a U-turn through the biggest connecting street to Calle 50 (ironically, this street is the only entrance to the famous Calle Uruguay, known for its clubs, car watchmen/drug dealers and other assorted vices. Psych!) and do a circle around the block, ending right at the church where the parade started. Not only is blocking off these two avenues the most retarded idea anyone could ever conceive, but its also something that Panama City’s Finest do year in and year out without realizing the spaghetti mess they’re making out of the incoming traffic. No warnings of any sort are given, either. Nothing. Zippo. Nada.
The parades aren’t as elaborate as those you would normally see during carnival time, but they do the job of celebrating Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection just fine. The festivities are so huge that everyone is in on it: after carnivals it’s very normal to see (both regular and fast food) restaurants pushing their seafood menus, namely fish sandwiches and other assorted goods from the ocean. Increased sales in crosses and other religious paraphernalia are common around this time as well, and the resurfacing of highly devoted Christians pop up on the social radar.
All in all, Holy Week means many things, depending on what type of Panamanian you ask. For some of them it’s an excuse to get away from the trials and tribulations of the city. For others, it is a chance to cleanse their souls from the impurities of both carnivals and the year prior. Even though the topic of religion deserves its own piece, one thing is for sure: even if Christianity is in the overwhelming majority and the only religion that causes traffic jams in Panama when the faith’s followers celebrate, at least there’s room for everyone from other cultures to practice their religions in peace, whether its in reverence to a god or an idea.
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