I know it is Sunday, but I decided to do some housekeeping and grocery shopping.  I gave my horse a day off and did not go riding.

This morning, it was cool and slightly overcast and I decided it would be a good day to catch up with some chores.  The fridge was starting to look bare as well.  The sheets were stripped from the bed, and several loads of laundry were done.....only to notice when it was almost all dry, that the gas bottle is once again empty (almost).  The dryer works on gas, as does the stove and hot water, so we are hoping our gas bottle will last until tomorrow, where we can replace it with the spare tank that is in the bodega.  I don’t have a key to the bodega, the gardener does.

In the worst case, I could remove the gas tank and have it replaced in town at any one of the gas stations.  I did not do this, and instead went to get some groceries.  On the list, were vegetables, coffee and filters, milk and eggs, and wine (for my housemate).  I picked up three bottles of wine and placed them in my cart.  When I went to the cash, I was informed that I could not purchase wine today.  I was a little stunned as I should have known that it is a holiday today, but I hadn’t the least idea.  The cashier informed me that January 9th in Panama, is a holiday, with no alcohol sales.

When I arrived home, I had to look up what this holiday is all about.  January 9th is Martyr’s Day (Panama) and here it is a National Holiday:

MARTYRS’ DAY

Martyrs’ Day takes place on January 9th each year. This holiday commemorates the day in 1964 when 200 Panamanian high school students marched to Balboa High School in the United States’ Canal Zone. These students came from the Instituto Nacional, Panama’s top public high school. They were protesting the Balboa High School students’ action of raising the US flag in the Canal Zone school.

About a year prior, US President John F. Kennedy, in an effort to quell tensions between the “Zonians”, US residents and supporters living in the Panama Canal Zone, and other Panamanians had decreed that the US flag could be raised in conjunction with the Panamaian flag in non-military sites within the zone. Then, the Panama Canal Zone Governor Robert J. Fleming limited the order. He ordered that neither flag would be raised at schools, police stations, post offices or other civilian locations where it had previously been flown.

The students at Balboa, who were Zonians, raised the US flag. The school ordered it taken down. Then, they walked out of class, re-raised the flag and posted guards to prevent its removal. The students from the Instituto Nacional went to Balboa to raise Panama’s flag alongside the US flag. After arriving at Balboa High School, a confrontation between the Panamanians and Zonians broke out. The flag the Panamanian students were carrying was torn.

At this point, angry crowds formed along the border between Panama City and the Canal Zone. A riot broke out and Panama’s National Guard was called in. Conditions only deteriorated throughout the day. Shots rang out in the sky, killing a total of 22 people and wounding an additional 500 others.