The Dirty Devil in a Heavenly Market
Avery Davidson
Louisiana Farm Bureau
In the old cartoon The Flintstones, Pebbles Flintstone sings the song “Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In.” The lyrics go, “Mommy told me something a little kid should know. It’s all about the devil and I’ve learned to hate him so.” Well, there’s not a whole hate for the devil in Panama.
On the road, you’ll see converted school buses with ornate paint jobs and graphics covering parts of the windshields with only a narrow strip of glass for the driver to peer out of as the 50 foot long tool of mass transportation traverses mountain roads. It’s not uncommon to see two huge chrome exhaust pipes curl up from the back of the bus, rising all the way to the roof where plumes of black smoke billow as the driver shifts gears. These are privately owned buses that offer rides to the people of Panama, for a price. This style of bus is known as El Diablo Rojo. In English, The Red Devil.
An El Diablo Rojo as it passed the bus LSU Ag Leadership Class XVII was riding. Note the dark tinted windows and motley paint job, something commonplace in Panama City.
You’ll be happy to know that LSU Ag Leadership Class XVII is not riding around in one of those non-air conditioned converted school buses brought over from the United States. That said, the bus they’re on has style, adorned with patterned curtains, an ornate red valance complete with small red tassels. The driver, George (said HOR-hey) takes great care of the bus and it’s passengers. He is not El Diablo Rojo, or any other color of diablo, for that matter.
A tassel hangs in the window off the valance in the bus carrying LSU Ag Leadership Class XVII. Many of the members used the curtains to block the sun as they took siestas on the long journey to Santiago, Panama.
Now, back to this “sympathy for the devil” we seem to see here in Panama. At Mercado San Felipe Neri in Panama City, there are colorfully painted and ornate devil masks hung between windows in the dining area. Ecuardo, the market administrator who stands about 6’1” and proudly wears a Dragonball Z lanyard to hold his identification card, said those masks represent El Diablo Sucio; The Dirty Devil. Each April, there is a celebration at the market where people dress as El Diablo Sucio in homemade masks and custom costumes adorned in dyed feathers and red and black spandex. He showed Neil Melancon and I pictures and videos from the celebration. It reminded us both of the European celebration known as Krampusnacht, only with much more color and a Latin America flair.
El Diablo Sucio hangs on a column in the dining area of Mercado San Felipe Neri.
These devilish visages contrast with Edguardo’s kindness, the bright lights and cleanliness of the market he manages. On one side there are fruits and vegetables. Class member Esther Boe bought a bag of sweet peppers, or at least she thinks the vendor told her they were not “caliente.” Classmate Jacob Nugier walked the aisles of the market munching on a bright yellow banana. He said it was the freshest he’d ever eaten. He was likely inspired to get it by the howler monkeys the class saw in trees the day before.
Mercado San Felipe Neri is in an old train station in Panama City. On one side, vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetables. On the other, butchers cut and sell chicken, pork and beef.
On the other side of the mercado, separated by a hallway containing shrines to San Felipe (Saint Phillip) and Virgen Maria (Virgin Mary), is the meat market. Vendors inside sell chicken, pork and beef… and every part of the animal. Nothing is wasted here and you can watch the butcher trim your tenderloin or tell them exactly how many ribs you want from the rack. Everything is fresh and the people of Panama City come daily to buy what they’re going to cook for lunch or dinner that same day. Unlike Americans, they don’t buy everything they need for the week in one shopping trip.
For a place named for the patron saint of laughter and joy, I can honestly say the people and the food sold at Mercado San Felipe Neri brought both to Class XVII, even if the devil made ‘em do it.
LSU Ag Leadership Class XVII poses for a photo in front of a mural at Mercado San Felipe Neri. There are brightly colored murals on and in many of the buildings in Panama City.