Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as not the mere absence of a mental health condition, but a state of well-being that allows individu-als to realize their full potential, demonstrate resilience in the face of adversity, be productive, make meaningful relationships, and contribute to their communities (World Health Organization, 2004). Of…
Petticoats, Arms and Finishing Touches – Interpret and Display Historic Dress
Petticoats, Arms and Finishing Touches Petticoats are never a case of one size or type fits all. Usually, you will need a combination of several types of petticoats to achieve the correct silhouette for your garment. They can be categorized as base petticoats, net petticoats, hooped petticoats and top petticoats. For a garment with sleeves…
Central America’s Top 10 Attractions
Top Attraction 1 The Riviera Maya. From Cancun’s resort-lined hotel strip to Tulum’s eco-chic vibe, some of the world’s finest, softest white-sand beaches are found here, providing the setting for Mexico’s biggest tourist region. Top Attraction 2 Chichén Itzá. Declared one of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World’, this great Maya city is intensely…
Technical developments and dressmaking techniques – Interpret and Display Historic Dress
Technical developments and dressmaking techniques An understanding of the technical developments in garment production is useful when collating information to provide an approximate date for a garment. In order to do this a detailed comparison between the cut and construction of the garment and known developments in pattern making and stitching techniques will be needed….
Tourism and Taste – Eating in US National Parks
Romantic sensibilities have significantly shaped the past of the national parks, and cosmopolitan tastes stand to shape their future. Romanticism, a movement that emphasized individual self-expression, emotion, imagination, nature, and the per-sonal experience of the sublime (Swiggett 1903), gained traction in nineteenth-century Europe as a critique of the Enlightenment rationality that had ushered in the…
The Kuna Yala – Panama – Central America Travel Guide
THE KUNA YALA Spread out across 49 communities in the Comarca, there are an estimated 50,000 Kuna people, also known as Guna, living in much in the same way they have for centuries. During the time of conquest, many were living in what is today known as the Darién, but fighting with the Catio people…
Isla Bastimentos – Polleras Of Azuero – Central America Travel Guide
Isla Bastimentos The second largest island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, Isla Bastimentos is dominated by the Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park, which includes jungle-backed beaches with powdery white sand and the pristine coral formations just off-shore. Bastimentos is much more relaxed than Bocas Town, with just one small creole town of 200 called…
Outside Of Boquete – Polleras Of Azuero – Central America Travel Guide
Outside of Boquete What Panama lacks in volume in terms of coffee, it makes up for it in quality. Shade-grown varieties grown in the rich volcanic soil have given Panama a name in the premium coffee market, surging past the better-known Costa Rica. In particular, it’s the varietal called Gesha, or Geisha, a plant of…
Polleras Of Azuero – Panama – Central America Travel Guide
POLLERAS OF AZUERO The complexly designed pollera costumes are widely considered to be one of the world’s most beautiful forms of traditional dress. While the Spanish colonial dress was common in haciendas throughout Latin America, the most famous polleras come from the Azuero peninsula. Worn during special occasions, these polleras consist of a one-piece skirt…
Drink – Panama – Central America Travel Guide
Drink Some mistake rum for Panama’s national drink. It’s not. That honor belongs to seco, a thrice distilled, 80-percent-proof sugarcane liquor. The most famous brand is Seco Herrerano, produced in the town of Pesé, by the Varela Hermanos distillery, which dates to 1936 and coincidentally also makes Abuelo rum. While inexpensive, top bartenders in Panama…
Portobelo To Isla Grande – The Expanded Panama Canal – Central America Travel Guide
Portobelo to Isla Grande Approximately 43km (27 miles) east of Colón lies the sleepy seaside town of Portobelo 8 [map] , which was one of the wealthiest ports in the Spanish Caribbean from the 16th to early 18th centuries, thanks to much of the silver and gold from South America passing through here before being…
Fact – The Expanded Panama Canal – Central America Travel Guide
Fact The French attempt at building the Panama Canal, led by Suez Canal architect Ferdinand de Lesseps, was a disaster. Few foresaw the enormous challenges that the thick, mosquito-infested jungle presented, ranging from floods to yellow fever. In the end, more than 20,000 died before they called it quits. There are several ecolodges within or…
The Expanded Panama Canal – Panama – Central America Travel Guide
THE EXPANDED PANAMA CANAL The Panama Canal is now even bigger than before. A $5 billion-dollar expansion added a new lane and room for the world’s largest ships, allowing for nearly double the amount of traffic. For much of the past century the shipping industry has built ships to fit through the Panama Canal, often…
Main Attractions – Panama – Central America Travel Guide
Casco Viejo Bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the southeast and the Panama Canal to the west, Panama City sprawls out in a maze of congested neighborhoods that rarely follow any sort of order. While few parts of the Panamanian capital are walkable, Casco Viejo A [map] , also called Casco Antiguo, is an exception….