Countdown to the Feria (Fair) XXXV !

In 48 hours, starting at 5 a.m. (before the flipping sun has even come up, for heaven's sake!) the Feria begins, and today there were people all over the village posting the schedules on doors, just in case you were not one of the impatient ones and got your schedule a week ago when the printer dropped them off.... like me. And by the way, Feria starts every day this way... and ends sometime after 1 a.m.

I love this view of the village, taken from La Loma about 9 a.m.

There is a palpable thrumming of energy throughout the village and since this is also a sort of 'homecoming' period, a lot of guests are beginning to arrive. I met an older woman who lives on my street this morning as I was sweeping it (this is another story I have to tell...) and she introduced me to her sister. This afternoon I met someone's cousin, and tomorrow an entire family will be coming to my house to collect the things they have been buying for the past two weeks. (Not exactly a garage sale, but productive nonetheless.) The trucks bringing beer and soft drinks have been unloading beverages at every little tienda all week long. It would not do to run out of beer! Tomorrow the military will arrive to begin setting up the check points coming into the city and also going into various venues where lots of people will be. They do check for guns and knives.

My art teacher said today when only one child showed up for class (usually there are six or seven), "Everyone is thinking only about the Feria and practicing for the parade and not about learning art." And in the distance I could hear the sounds of bands practicing, a sure sign that Feria is near. What is called the Battle of the Bands in the U.S. is called "Ecuentro de Bandas de Marcha" and it's at 4 p.m. on Friday, the 12th.

But my favorite, and the one I wish I could participate in, is the Cabalgata or horse ride...at 10 a.m. on Friday. I  adore watching all the riders on their high stepping, gleaming-coated Paso Finos and other breeds. I find it less appealing to see the drunks astride some spavined, underfed and mistreated creature they have nearly drug into town for the event. Yes, it's a mix, but that is Feria. Here's a photo from last year's event before the ride got under way.

The undisputed high point of the day for the women is the presentation of the young women who are vying to be Queen of Barichara. They are candidates from all the vedetas (equivalent to 'shires' or regions in this area) and they represent Barichara at various events throughout the state of Santander and sometimes beyond. Two years ago I sewed the dress for the representative from Salitre, the vedeta where Corasoma (the finca I was affiliated with) was located. She did not win, but came in third. This event is at 7 p.m. and is attended by all the girl's families and other relatives and friends, so it is a huge, huge gathering. I enjoy watching the girls make their 'walk' down the aisle, escorted by a young man who is usually part of the group of the military presence here during the festival.

There will be a dance every night up on the fairgrounds, where people can drink and eat and laugh and joke and have four days of carousing with family and friends. The new mayor of Barichara is quite firm about keeping the drinking up there and not all over the city, but we will see how well he manages.

Sabado/Saturday is about expositions and animals and presentations (more fiesta!) of traditional dances and foods, so it will be somewhat subdued after Friday's grand opening with all those intense activities.

Some very creative designs and use of materials last year.

It is on Domingo/Sunday when the Queen candidates are installed on their floats, something that takes several hours, after Mass of course. Floats are lined up all over the village, girls are either sitting or standing on them, braced to wave and throw candy for about two hours as they wend their way through the streets and past the judges. The parade starts at 2 p.m. and the judges' decision is announced at 7:30 p.m. up at the fairgrounds. Then the dancing will begin and those not chosen will wander about with tight groups of friends mingling and giggling until their feet are too sore to take another step and they finally head home.

After all of these days of getting up before 5 a.m., finally reason prevails and nothing happens on Monday until 8 a.m. And the day is scheduled to unfold somewhat sedately with parades of cows, festivals of chickens, gatherings of camposinos and acknowledgement of Guane, the nearest and oldest village in the state (I think) and finally another dance at 8:30 p.m. to close out Feria XXXV, "Ferias and Fiestas Culturales de la solidaridad y el retourno de Barichara" for 2012.

I'm charging up my camera batteries for the Feria, but I'm nearly worn out writing about it!

1742 and all that...

Columbus Day is not really celebrated in Colombia, but in recognition of that fellow's efforts, I suppose something other than a Huge! Car! Sale! is in order. How about a history lesson?

My recently completed oil painting of Barichara.

This village, now called the City of Barichara, according to local history was established in 1742 by a catholic priest, Father Joseph Martin Padrilla and his son, Ayerbe. If any of you have watched the newest TV series of tales of perfidy, murder and mayhem, "The Borgias," then you will have learned that priests, cardinals and even popes of the early Catholic Church were producing children with or without papal consent. Perhaps once the world was more fully populated the Church decided to try and limit what their administrators were contributing.

Here is some of what else was going on in 1742: Charles Albert VII of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor in January. (For those of you who are little weak on history, this title was an elected one for the monarch who was ruling the central European union.) In April, Handel's 'Messiah' was presented in Dublin, Ireland for the first time, Frederick the Great (another emperor) of Prussia beat the Austrians in May (assuming this was some kind of a battle and not a soccer game), there was a fierce battle in June on Simon's Island in Georgia (USA) called "Battle of Bloody Marsh" when the Spaniards attacked the British to gain control of the areas north of St. Augustine, Florida (USA). Benjamin Franklin was busy inventing the Franklin Stove up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), and then in July, Prussia and Austria signed a peace treaty. Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) opened up to the public, and in November Empress Elisabeth of Russia proclaimed her nephew, Peter of Holstein-Gottlorp her heir. Poor Peter would eventually become Emperor in 1762, but would only survive for six months when his wife Catharine succeeded him. (That's a story for another day.)

It turned out that an earlier Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the first king of Spain, back in the mid-1500's, was busy utilizing his explorers to find and conquest much of the Americas, from what is now Florida south through Central America and South America. He was proud of his Spanish territorial dominance, continuing what would become a four-century effort to colonize much of the world - starting in 1492 with Christoforo Colombus and ending in 1898 with the Spanish-American War.

Those early Spanish explorers came up the Magdalena River from the Caribbean and invaded the ancient Chibchas whose tribes had, according to many historians, lived here for at least 14,000 years. The combination of diseases brought by the Spaniards, along with their brutal assaults, resulted in the obliteration of many of the indigenous tribes, including the Guane. By 1586 they were either assimilated into Spanish colonies or decimated. There is a little village about 16 kilometers from Barichara by this name. Their early cultivation of cotton, pineapples and creation of pottery is still going on today.

Santa Barbara Capella is at the top of the pueblo.

Barichara was operational 454 years ago, after someone claimed to have seen an image of the Virgin in a stone and the chapel of Santa Barbara was built on the site where that vision occurred, completed in 1698.

The purported image is on display in the first left-hand alcove of the Cathedral. I think this is because the Cathedral can be more securely attended than the capella can. Thirty-five years later, in 1733, there was a request made by the Padrilla de la Parra family to have Barichara designated a parish.

Interior of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Conception of Barichara.

The establishment of a parish meant people would come and have both the rituals and protection of the church. Finally in 1751, the Archbishop of Santa Fe, Don Pedro Azua, issued the title of parish under the name "Our Lady of Conception of Barichara and the Martyr San Lorenzo." The main cathedral at the top of the plaza bears this name. Construction was started in 1760 and finished about 20 years later and then consecrated in 1785. The cupola above the altar bears both structural and visual similarities to that of St. Peter's in the Vatican.

Doctora Isabel stirring up the native soup, mute (mooty).

As we slide down this next week to the Festivals and Ferias, Oct. 12-15, locals are madly finishing up their floats, stocking up on guarapo (pronounced good-ah-poh and made from fermented panela/sugar cane), chicha (a fermented corn-based, syrupy drink) and another drink based on corn and rice called masato. I had my first taste of guarapo last week and immediately had a GI problem. My doctor friend insisted that a small sip was not enough to be the cause, but given that this stuff is often made from pond water with any number of parasites and other things, I am not convinced. But I am certain that that was my last 'sip' of that stuff.