La Merced

I'm back in Medellin now after a superb weekend and an overall great two weeks in Manizales.

Friday, after making it out of Neira only by the generosity of a bus driver, since there is only one ATM in the whole pueblo and it doesn't work with my card, I went to see Fundacion Contacto perform at a geriatric hospital. They started off going from room to room, clowning about in twos, certainly bringing smiles to peoples faces. Then somehow things turned into a geriatric dance party. There was an event with some music, a guy singing, and a maybe one couple dancing, but once the clowns arrived things really livened up. At this point I couldn't just watch anymore, I jumped right into the action, clowning about, dancing with abuelita after abuelita. There was such an honest delight in the eyes of the people there. Just to have young people there willing to have some fun with them was enough, but the extravagant silliness of the clowns turned an afternoon dance into a thrilling fiesta. That night I went out to San Carlos with Lina, Diego, and Juanita, and finally tried aguardiente. Tasty, but I didn't have too much, because the next day I had an outing.

Christian and Luz Maria, who I made contact with via Roberto Luis, brought me to their respective family's fincas. The friendliness and kindness to invite me to their country house for a day after only having lunch with me once, I found astonishing, but consistent with the openness of the culture here. We stopped into Luz Maria's finca, owned by her brother, then went on to Christian's, which had been his father's, grandfather's, and great-grandfather's before him, named 'Mateguadua.' Guadua trees look similar to bamboo, and are used traditionally to build a lot of the houses here.

Here are some pictures of the day:
http://picasaweb.google.com/108723329678166020807/LaMerced#

Walking up to the house, the mule ran over to greet us. Then I met Fernando and his family, and David, who live and work on the finca and keep things running. And their dogs, parrot, chickens, and turkey. Christian, Fernando, and I hopped onto to horses and started off. I can't remember the last time I was on a horse. I was on a camel in Israel almost three years ago. I don't think I've been on a horse since I was maybe twelve. But the horse I was on, named 'Resorte,' which translates to 'spring,' was incredibly easy to manuever.

Our three hour ride across the side of the mountain that is Christian's land was totally amazing. Unlike any other experience I've had. The grass and bushes are filled with butterflies everywhere. The ride was quite steep, zigzagging up the mountainside. There are cattle roaming about, organized into sections of the land by type. The view was constantly breathtaking. We stopped by various trees to eat their fruits: mango, guava, an orange lemon; and I nibbled the outside of some ripe coffee. The aguacate (avocado) and some spiny green fruit weren't ready. Fernando also brought along some maracuya (passion fruit) which have a texture and appearance very different from other fruits I've had. It's like you open a large hard boiled egg, peel off a fuzzy white layer, to find what could be insect eggs but are in fact silvery seeds coated in sweet tasting jelly. My legs and ass started to ache a bit into the ride, but a quick look off into the distance brought me back to bliss. Fernando was very interested in the cost of goods and life in NYC compared to La Merced. The beef from his and Christian's cow's, is brought in markets for one third the amount beef goes for the US. He asked a lot more questions about differences between the land and farms in the US, but I just didn't have the answer to questions like 'how many hectors of land does an average cattle-herder own?' My guides explained components of our surroundings; points of interest in the distance, varieties of plant life. But mostly I took in the beauty and the peace of venture. I found myself not wanting to speak very much afterward, relishing the connected silence.

From the finca we went into the town of La Merced, which is substantially smaller than Neira. Christian seemed to know the whole village. His family has been connected there for years, and he is active in business there selling the meat of his cattle. We walked through the meat market, a whole perimeter of hanging meat, with every part available from chest to intestine to head. We had un almuerzo, un tinto, y un ron (rum), with every other passerby coming to greet Christian. I found myself uncomfortable in the small town. Not just because I am stared at by everyone, but I felt a strong lack of understanding of the way of life there for some reason. What I felt I wasn't understanding I don't know, but I could feel a different mentality at work, that I want to understand better. We stopped into the impressive local church, which features the common iconography here of 'Christ's sacred heart.' Renderings of Jesus, with his heart showing, and in the case of this church, with red and blue light bursting from it. I left the town curious.

That evening I went 'El Florero de Llorente, una Historia Diferente' at the invitation of Tuto from Punto de Partida, who was helping manage the event. The performance at Ecohotel Rincon del Buho told part of Colombia's history in parody using giant doll/puppets. It seemed like I knew half the audience through my various workshops. I found it entertaining, even without knowing the historical events exactly. Then there was an small classical music ensemble, that played selections mainly from the typical Italian operas. And afterwards, with Christian and Luza Maria, Lorena and her cousin Leonardo, I went to the apartment of some friends of Christian's, whose son Juan David was in my one day workshop with the theatre group organized by Wilson Mejia. We had a good deal of ron, an excellent dinner, some wine, and then I really needed to go to sleep.

Especially thanks to the help of Lorena, Lina, Diana, and Clara, from the Manizales Colombo I was able to have such an amazing time in Manizales. I may have the opportunity to return to see part of the International Festival this year. But they really made sure I was taken care of, for work and outside of it. But now I begin again. New groups, new interns in my workshops, but a somewhat familiar place with a number of familiar faces about. I'm staying at Juan Alberto's, in a fantastic cottage-ish thing, now through the next two months. It will be different, although I have my own space apart, sort of living with Juan, his wife Marcela, and their son Emmanuel. Emmanuel already explained to me what every different button on the television does. He isn't allowed to watch TV this week, so he was quite focused on it. There are lots of lights and lots of locks here. And a hammock in my room. I need to figure out my schedule for tomorrow.