Socorro - the seat of independence in Colombia

The cathedral here is lovely with Italian
terrazzo throughout, Italian artisans did the
beautiful stained glass windows, and it has
an Old World feel in the design.

The Andes are the backdrop for Socorro's cathedral.

There are so many villages and cities that have long histories in Colombia often it is hard to choose which one to visit first. Since I live in one of them, Barichara, unfortunately I tend to overlook many of its historical aspects as I amble off to the weekly market or a ceramics class. So one of these days I will do a more complete story.

But this week I went with my doctor friend to Socorro, where Colombian revolutionaries began their fight for liberty. I guess I could equate it to the Boston Tea Party or the secret meetings that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or other early fights for the liberty in the United States. Founded in 1681, Socorro was given the title of "Noble and Loyal Village" in 1711 by the King of Spain, I think. However, he got rather annoyed when the populace wanted to ignore his royal decrees and he rescinded his beneficience once the fighting began over  taxes... quite similar to the tea party, you see.

Sextant of the church shows
us one of the underground
rivers... yikes!

Manuela Beltran, one of the guys who fought and died for the liberty he so badly wanted, is honored with a building called the Teatro Beltran. Sr. Galan has a village named after him as well as a statue in the park, a small tribute for literally getting drawn and quartered for his commitment to the fight. As I stood and looked down at the relatively new cathedral (180 years old) perched on a mountainside across from even higher mountains, I tried to imagine what it must have been like for these men to be resisting authority in what was then almost a virtual jungle in the Andes.

The beautiful church in Socorro was designed after European churches, but the architect(s) failed to properly site the location and it was built on three subterranean rivers. The problem is that after 180 years, the church has become unstable, with the front portion cracking and leaning downhill. It is rumored that the church will be decommissioned soon and possibly disassembled and rebuilt on firmer ground. That is, in itself, an interesting challenge, since all of Santander is lying right on a huge fault line and there are lots more rivers to contend with, both above and below the ground.

The stained glass windows were done by
Italian artisans over 180 years ago.

The trees that grew back then have since been used for firewood, a problem all over the country as they now try to promote planting and saving old growth trees. One that survived is shown here. It is over 400 years old and reminded me of the Old Senator in St. Augustine, Florida. The Old Senator is reputed to be over 600 years in age, supposedly a 'silent witness' to Spaniard Ponce De Leon finding the Fountain of Youth. These trees are even similar in overall shape, although the one here in Colombia is considerably taller and I rather doubt it is a live oak.

400 yr-old tree in Socorro, Colombia

Today there are paved roads, modern buildings alongside the antiquated ones, people making arepas the same way they did over 300 years ago while others are making new things to be used by their compatriots, but the issues of liberty seem submerged by the demands of daily living. The statues are in the park but the purpose seems to be more for pigeons resting on them than for the reminder of what the sacrifice was.

A Fiesta!! To Life!!

The small gate was opened, the balloons were flying,
and the guests started arriving.

After a couple of weeks of being back in my favorite village in the world, I decided it was time to celebrate. Someone asked me, "Is it your birthday?" No, I just wanted to celebrate my new life, so I replied, "It is not my birthday I am celebrating, but everyone else's."

The invitation said, "For artists and those who wish to be; come and play!"

Initially it was to be just the people in my theatre group. Several of them could not make it on a Saturday night, so it was moved to a Sunday. Pretty soon I was getting calls from the invitees, "I have some visitors, may I bring them?" and "You remember _______? She wants to come, too." and a few spouses decided it might be fun after all. By the time the count was done, it was up to 35 people! I definitely didn't have enough chairs.

A full house with lots of food and friends!

But several people who had been invited and said they were coming never showed up. One was due to a sudden onset of the stomach virus, another said he didn't have a ride, others just didn't explain. That's sort of a typical Colombian outcome, I was told. But I was grateful because the 29 who were there brought enough food for at least 29 more, and there was enough seating.

We ate empenadas, wonderful homemade bread with a delicious creamy dip, hummus, Spanish potato 'pizzas,' delicate little toasts with tasty coverings, fruit salad, and so many other hand prepared dishes that everyone was fully fed and satisfied. I want to thank everyone who came because it was my first party in probably 10 years and it gave me such pleasure to do it all, and to have such a wealth of 'attendees' was wonderfully satisfying. That everyone enjoyed themselves was the intent, and for those who missed it - I hope you will come to the next one!

It fell to one of my more fluent Spanish-speaking friends to explain the theme of the party and the purpose in the art projects that everyone was asked to create: "To Life!"

A table full of materials, each one found
his or her expression of the theme.

There were a variety of creative materials available (colored paper, glue, colored pens, markers, old magazines) and some people found other materials to use... bugs, dried grass, food, metal wire, foam packing, seed pods and lipstick. It was fascinating to see how each person interpreted the theme!

A Canadian, here in Barichara as a tourist, came with his hostess (my art teacher) and struggled for awhile to find his creative outlet. Finally he put some of the lovingly prepared foods on his napkin and presented that! Unfortunately, by the time I was taking pictures, all that was left was a toothpick. But that's life!

I will post as many of the art pieces as were found after the party on another site and will link it here as it too difficult to get Blogger to post with my slow modem. Check back for the link, which I will put in THIS SPACE.

My art teacher, Shayo, is (I think) trying to
convince Francisco, one of the theatre group,
to participate in her art project which
required putting on lipstick.

My art teacher, Shayo, decided to make her project one that involved everyone - or at least as many people as she could persuade to participate. When I post the art pieces, I will also post some of the shots of people who were willing to "kiss the page," but I would be remiss if I didn't put up her creation as it was a giant kiss to the world - see it at the bottom. Not everyone was willing to submit to putting on lipstick.

Artists from 7 to over 60 in age, from nine different
countries and cultures gathered to celebrate LIFE!

It was wonderful to see all the ways that nine different nationalities (!!! true !!! Colombians, French, Spanish, Hollanders, Belges, Brits, Americans, a Canadian, and Switzerland were all represented here that night !!) with various languages were able to work together and separately to create some very interesting art. Here are just some of those fabulous works of art.

A giant kiss for the world directed by Shayo, a Colombian artist.

A Different Sort of Art

In various cities around the world you are likely to see
artists like this one; usually men who look like statues
which move randomly and provide entertainment -
for a donated fee - see the slotted container? 

In my travels I have enjoyed going to museums, art galleries, art shows and other events where artists either have some kind of presentation of their work or are themselves on display. The photo above is of a man dressed up as a woodchopper. This is interesting on several levels. For one thing, there is a HUGE issue about cutting down trees in Colombia because of the erosion of the land, so I find this woodchopper in downtown Bogota, near the Museum of Gold (Musee del Oro), fascinating.

Secondly, this fellow appears to be wearing a cap which is more like something one finds in the United States up near the Canadian border, not common at all in Colombia. His artistry in the design of the costume and his actions was skillful and as one got closer, he raised his ax, made a few chopping motions and then stopped. Then he winked at me. And motioned for me to get a little closer. I'm all about the adventure, as my readers know, so I stepped in a bit closer. He bent down and planted a kiss on my cheek. Of course I made a donation!

The woodchopper's kiss - no splinters!

Then I managed to persuade my guide and friend, Stella, to pose with him for that winsome woodchopper's kiss and this is what I captured.

I have seen an all-gold fireman in Cabo San Lucas, a silver-toned 'Mercury' in Seattle, Washington, and a couple of coal black 'cast-iron' fishermen in Cartegena, Colombia. These men go to a lot of work to create their characters - I have yet to see a woman doing this kind of art - and I hope the next time you are in a city that has one or more statues that you will find it worthy of your time and a donation because it is an artistic expression that merits some attention.

Oliver!

We had the delightful experience of meeting some people at our garage sale on Saturday who are involved with the Historic Everett Theatre and we were invited to attend the closing night of "Oliver!" put on by Northwest Savoyards, a community theatre group. What a charming delivery this group provided of this Broadway musical! I snagged a picture from their website showing the old theatre because this is how it looked tonight. This is a short post because we have been moving stuff all day and I'm weary. Having the social time of a musical and dinner afterwards was a great relief from being a drudge and a workhorse... I truly hate garage sales for the nickel and diming that we have to do, but I loved this one because we met some fascinating folks and caught up with a couple we have been meaning to see... hopefully they will come and see us in South America!