More Ustupu Celebration

We wanted to post some more photos of the Children's Day Celebration in Ustupu. Although they are very tolerant of visitors, the Kuna do not appreciate strangers taking pictures in their villages.  Apparently, they used to be fine with it until they saw the photos of themselves for sale on postcards in Panama City. The following photos are posted on this blog with respect for the privacy of the Kuna. They are posted here with the intent of sharing with our friends and family the remarkable Kuna culture and are not to be reproduced or used for any other reason.

Andres’ mother, decked out in beautiful silver necklaces and mola, looking ready for some two-fisted chica drinking.

The men are not as dressed up for the festivities, but they definitely enjoy it.

Pelican wing bones make an impressive necklace.

I hope these pelicans were already dead.

 

A little more chica while dancing in the morning!

The big bowls are for offering chica, smaller ones are used for scooping out individual servings.

  A nice sequence shot of me trying a little chica. Check the guy on my left’s smile.

The women offered Chris chica a lot more often than the men offered it to me.

A little of the outside parade action.

The young and the elderly all take part in the festivities.

Tobacco is another important part of the celebrations. The otherwise nonsmoking Kuna really smoke it up at these fiestas.

The harmonica

Check the detail on the beaded arm (and leg) wrappings and the mola. Not sure of the significance of the Tootsi Pop, but there were a lot around. Maybe to get some quick energy back after a night of dancing and chica.

In Spanish it is borracho, aka drunk. This is about 10am and these ladies are feeling no pain. It sure seemed to us that the older women drank a lot more than the younger ones and at least as much as the men. Even with all this drinking, the crowd stays very peaceful and friendly. Try that in a bar in the US.

Still happy! I think the kerchief over the face is a signal that she’s had enough.

Chica cups being passed around.

One of the head men, looking regal.

Later that afternoon Andres came back to the boat to film this Apple advertisement and to copy some music (thanks Ken!) onto his MacBook. He keeps the MacBook charged with a solar panel.

Had to re-use this shot just so you could remember how much taller both Chris and I have grown since we left Seattle.

Paul