Independence Day (from Colombia)

November  has many holidays
We started the month out with Day of the Dead, November 2nd. This is a day where people remember friends and family that are no longer with us. They take flowers to the grave sites and clean up the cemeteries and plots. No alcohol is sold in stores or restaurants. This really is a day of remembrance, not really a celebration.

November 3rd. Independence Day, separation from Colombia. All of the local schools participated in the parade and wow, I had no idea there were so many!!!! The kids all dressed up, some in the "traditional" Panamanian costumes, some as jesters or some kind of monster, or the more traditional marching and drum band outfits. It was pretty fun seeing each school and what themes they chose to represent.

The last but not least was my son's school. :)

And, tomorrow is Flag Day, November 4th. This is the holiday where Panama celebrates the adoption of the national flag. We will be attending another parade tomorrow!

Then there are 3 more holidays after that....lots to do!

Trash
In the 6 years we have been coming to Panama, we have never had a place to deposit our trash near our house. This might seem very trivial, but trust me....finding the trash truck, dump or community area was very difficult at times. 

Realistically, there is no trash truck that would come up the hill to collect trash, so we fabricated a trash receptacle and placed it at the bottom of our hill. YAY!!!!!! It is the little things in life!

New trash bin

Creatures/Bugs
Wildlife here is always interesting! I only know that the first picture is a rain frog, or so my gardener tells me and from there....no clue on any official names. :)