The PANANOLE News: FSU-Panama Student E-Zine

On Monday, November 17, 2003, at 9 am, the nation of Panama set out to break two world records for continuous reading out loud. The work selected for this quest—organized by the Office of the Mayor of Panama City—was none other than the classic novel Don Quijote de la Mancha. The goal was for Panamanians to read Cervantes’s work, out loud and non-stop, for 60 hours. At the time, Germany held the record for continuous reading aloud with a 54-hour marathon of detective novels. The record for reading Don Quijote de la Mancha out loud was 48 hours, held by Spain.

More than 30 members of the FSU-Panama community signed up to help in the effort. To participate, each would have to read a passage from Don Quijote for approximately 5 minutes. The event was held at the Albrook Bus Terminal, in Panama City.

Photo Courtesy of Lourdes Camarena
     “When the call went out in the university for volunteers I didn’t hesitate a second in signing up,” said Mr. Samuel Robles who teaches music at FSU-Panama. “It was a terrific experience. Although I had been pretty ill for several days, the event energized me. I feel honored to have been involved.”

     Paola Domínguez said that her participation in the event was a wonderful experience. “My mother went along and took tons of photographs of me reading from Don Quijote. Everyone in my family was so proud of me, even though I’m not sure why. All I know is that I had a marvelous time.”

     “It was a great experience! There’s no other way to put it,” added Ana Irene Delgado.

     “Although I had to be at the Bus Terminal before 6 am, it was worth getting up so darn early,” said Mónica Martínez. “It’s not everyday that you get to help break two world records.”

     “I feel proud of having participated in this event on behalf of my country,” adds Lourdes Camarena. “I was so moved as I looked around me and saw people from all social classes and all walks of life helping out or just showing up to support the event. And I also thought that having us sign a copy of Don Quijote, next to the passage that we had read, was a classy touch.”

Lourdes Camarena signs copy of Don Quijote. Photo Courtesy of Lourdes Camarena
     Mr. Nelson Riquelme, Director of Public Relations for the Mayor’s Office, was impressed with FSU-Panama’s participation. “All the students showed up on time and read extremely well. Also, the only two Chinese-Panamanians who participated in the event were students from FSU-Panama. We were thrilled about that.” (Mr. Riquelme was referring to Melissa Lam and Angélica Vanessa Wong.)

     In spite of the great success of the event, there were some problems. Because of the overwhelming nationwide response, not every FSU-Panama volunteer was called to participate. “We had three times the numbers of volunteers we had anticipated,” Mr. Riquelme said. “We couldn’t possibly accommodate everyone.”

     “I am very disappointed I wasn’t called,” said FSU-Panama student Jahanel Pitti. “In fact, I am more than disappointed; I am angry. I wanted to read. I wanted to help Panama break the world records.”

     “All the students that got to read are talking about what a wonderful experience the whole thing was,” said Michelle Levi. “They walk around with these Don Quijote smiles on their faces. It makes me envious. I also wanted to be a part of the effort, but they never called me.”

     On Wednesday, November 19, at 9 p.m., the last reader stepped off the stage, and Panama had officially set two new world records. Look for it in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

     The Pananole News congratulates each person from FSU-Panama who signed up—whether they got to read, or not.