GO BIG OR GO HOME

We got a lot more than we bargained for at Don Tavo's that night. I guess the glass door separating the lobby from the rooms should have been a clue. Upon check-in though, we failed to notice the bar in the rear of the motel. An easy mistake to make as it was early when we turned in for the night and things hadn't yet begun to hop. The road noise was pretty noticeable from our room but we were tired from our day and found slumber easily. Later though, the bar started pumping, and the music, singing and partying rose to a level that was the antithesis of soporific, to say the least. Either someone left the glass door open, or it didn't do squat to muffle the sounds.

To top it all off, at what we guessed must have been midnight, everyone in town owning a car got into their vehicle and began honking their horns and yelling. The "joyful honking parade of fun" continued for about 15 minutes as the cars motored up and back and up and back down through the streets of town. It was one of those situations where all we could do was laugh. Little did we know that we had just audibly witnessed our first Panamanian GO BIG OR GO HOME celebration. We had arrived on the 156th anniversary of the Chiriqui Region and the locals did indeed GO BIG and NOT HOME until the wee hours of the morning. Silly Gringos, sleep is for wusses!