cl podcast Chiriqui.Life Podcast #12: An Interview with Elba Landau, and Her Recollections of the Early History of Boquete

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This is another in a series of audio podcasts by Chiriqui.Life, but a unique one. The subject of this podcast is Elba Maria De Las Mercedes Landau del Cid, with the short version of her name being Elba Landau. She is known to family and friends simply as Elba, and she is joined in this English language podcast with her long time friend, Maria Boyd, in case of language issues.

There is a bit of coincidence in how this podcast got scheduled, and some differences in how it is being published from the typical CL audio podcast. Price Peterson, a very long time resident of this area, was recently the recipient of an award that was presented at the Biblioteca de Boquete. [Click Here for the postings about that recognition ceremony.] In a conversation with Price shortly after that ceremony, I (Bud) had an interesting dialogue about the comments made by Carlos Enrique Landau; Price's response was that the Landau family is quite large and contributed significantly to Boquete during the early 1900s. Price then suggested that we interview Elba Landau (a cousin of Carlos Enrique Landau) because she is very knowledgeable about the history of Boquete. And so we set out to interview her. Elba lives in Bajo Boquete. Marcelyn and I would check for her presence at her home as we were running errands in town. We finally connected, and she graciously accepted our invitation to participate in a podcast recording session. Among other achievements in her life, she taught piano and that included living for a period of time in the US, and that was when and where she learned the English language, however, she is a bit shy about admitting to such bilingual skills. To help Elba feel more comfortable about the language issue, we included one of our neighbors, Maria Boyd, who has known Elba for many years; they consider each other to be good friends. Thus this podcast came to be scheduled. Given the length of the recording session (not planned, but it just happened that way), we have decided to break Elba's podcast into segments based on the time period involved or events discussed. Both segments of the podcast with Elba and Maria are included below.

This podcast consists of Elba's recollections about Bocas del Toro and the Boquete areas of more than 110 years ago. Her grandfather arrived in the Bocas del Toro area from Germany in the early 1900s, and then her grandfather and father (aged twelve at the time) moved from the Bocas del Toro area to Boquete in 1915. Elba is a long time resident of Boquete, having been born in the family residence in Jaramillo Arriba. She has never married, but has a large extended family and many friends, has traveled quite a bit, and is passionate about certain issues, especially the environment. Again, note that the content in this podcast consists of Elba's recollections; there may be historical inaccuracies. But regardless, it is still interesting information.

To listen to Elba's podcast, click below

This first segment of Elba's podcast is 20m 16s duration, and covers the period from the early 1900s until about 1915. Part 2 follows below and covers the period from 1915 to more contemporary times.

If you would like to provide feedback about this podcast, or discuss other matters related to this podcast series, please either reply to this posting, or email support@chiriqui.life.

If you would like to share this podcast with family and friends, simply provide them the following URL, but remember that CL membership is required to view this content:
        http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/6885-chiriquilife-podcast-12-an-interview-with-elba-landau-and-her-recollections-of-the-early-history-of-boquete/

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Here are three pictures taken of Elba, Maria, and then both of them during the recording session.