Good Friday?

The 'body' of Christ is removed from the cross before the
procession and is placed in a bier for the walk to the 'cave.'

Just what was 'good' about a Friday where you get hung up on a cross and left to die? Nothing, as far as I can tell. And so while I honor the day as being the Catholic and Episcopal churches sequence for the days approaching Easter, I have my doubts as to whether or not Jesus was really crucified on a Friday.

First of all, this event was supposed to have taken place over 2000 years ago in a place where Friday was the eve of the Sabbath for the Jews. Even though they were the proponents of the actions taken against Jesus, it seems unlikely that they would push for a crucifixion at that time of the week, especially if it was in between Passover (Thursday), their biggest holy day and their regular Shabbat.

There are references in the Bible to the women getting spices which they could not do on a Sabbath (Shabbat) day. And in the Jewish tradition, burial takes place within 24 hours of death, so if he was buried on the day of his death assuming it might have actually been Wednesday evening, three days later for his rising would put it at Saturday night, late enough that on Sunday morning, it is just discovered.

It doesn't really matter all that much, because Jesus' elevation from mortal to greater-than overshadows a mere day of the week. But it makes a lot more sense to me to think of Wednesday being the dark and final day of the Old Testament, because with His death on the cross, everything changes and we are no longer having to pay up front for our sins. We are on a full credit ride, pre-paid by Him for all those sins and thus begins the New Testament.

The 'bier' is covered with a tent and is carried by the young people in
the procession to the chapel, followed by many Baricharians and visitors.

Here in Colombia, the Good Friday is celebrated with a day of praying, attending masses at the churches, listening to sacred music and about 4 p.m. the priest announces the final words of The Comforter and everyone follows him out of the church to process with the 'body' of Christ up to the little church called 'Jesus' Chapel.' There a little stage has the backdrop of the cave and He is wrapped up and put inside it. It is all quite dramatic and certainly makes the event more realistic.

The procession takes about an hour to complete and I was told that all the men in the pueblo carry candles around through the night as part of the vigil, but as my Spanish is somewhat lacking still, I may have misunderstood that part of the event.

The procession comes up the hill to the small church called
"Jesus' Chapel," where He is interred in the cave.

At any rate, tomorrow the vigil continues and we wind down the activities of Holy Week with the sunrise on Sunday and a long mass afterwards.

As I stood in the church, listening to the priests shout and proclaim the story, I watched people around me to see what effect, if any, all this intensity was having on them. Sad to say, many looked bored, children were yawning or already asleep, dogs were running up and down the central aisle, lovers looked at each other longingly, and it was getting warm inside. I left and went outside. Since it was so crowded, many of the faithful were also sitting outside listening by loudspeaker. But there was little difference between the inside group and the outside group, except that the latter one could have ice cream, hormigas, beer or sodas while they sat and waited for the procession to begin.

What would Jesus do if he came back and arrived in Barichara? I think he would have found the spectacle no less daunting than 2000 years ago and perhaps he would still say, "Forgive them for they know not what they are doing..." because for all the pomp, there was still missing some of the love that he wanted us to give to one another.

Earth Day, 2011

If eating bugs will save the earth by cutting down on greenhouse gases, the Santanderianos are well ahead of the game. On April 15, the huge ants swarmed and were collected by the thousands. These 'hormigas culonas' (big-butt virgin queen ants) are considered a delicacy here and all during that night and the next one could smell the peculiar odor of roasting ants throughout the village.

These are the giant ants (hormigas colonus) which are (in most cases)
de-winged and only the rust-colored thorax is used for roasting and eating.

I have to admit that I was curious about trying one, but when it came right down to it, I simply could not manage it. The smell, for me, was a reminder of something nasty in my past, and my stomach revolted before I could put tongue or teeth to the crispy corpse.


The day of the swarming, even the birds and lizards were feasting and one could see parts of dead ants all over the streets. The conditions have to be just right, it seems, with a certain amount of rain and sunshine and correct temperatures, for the ants to decide to relocate (swarm) their nests. All over the countryside people are watching and waiting and they pounce like a kitten on a moth as soon as the hapless ants exit the ground. I did not see the gathering up of the bugs, but there were plenty of bags of ants ready to be dismembered by men and women sitting around in the park that day and the next.

Live ant crawling on the hand of the man who will be
dismembering it shortly. Wingspan is about 3 inches.

I am not sure when the custom got started, but there is a well-known local saying which embodies the philosophy of eating the ants, “We must eat them before they eat us.” 

Edible.com reports that they are “giant leafcutter ants, the largest in the world,” and they are harvested by the Guane indians in the Colombian Amazon region...not so... they are harvested by local men and women (who might be related to the indigenous tribes of long ago) and cooked over gas in pots on a stove, not over mud holes in the ground. And we are not living in the Amazonia, but in the Andes, northern Colombia. 

A more correct version of history and use of the giant ants (Atta laevigata) was reported on the Discovery Channel in August 2006 and can be found by clicking on that link. 

A native who knows what peanuts taste like (peanuts are not a commonly found item here) said, “They taste a little like peanuts.” Other comments range from “like crispy bits of bacon,” to “crunchy burnt toast,” none of which caused me to overcome my first reaction.

Every year when there is a procession or parade, the large ant float from San Gil is brought out to memorialize this tradition, and it was one of the first things I saw when arriving in this country that puzzled me until I learned about the roasted ants. 

At each toll booth coming into Santander there are locals selling plastic bags with about 100 roasted ants in them for approximately $2000 CPs or $1 US. On a protein weight count, it is probably a very pricey item, but in this case it is considered a ‘treat,’ not necessarily a meal. They can also be found at various roadside stands throughout the state at similar prices.

However, they are offered up with wine at art gallery openings, given as hostess gifts when coming for dinner, placed on a table at a local restaurant to snack on with a Cervesa (beer) and there is even a restaurant here called “Los Hormigas” where they are served in a variety of ways to tourists and locals who are willing to pay a hefty price for such a meal.

So on this Earth Day 2011, and also Good Friday of the Holy Week, I will plant some yellow flowers in memory of the Amarillo Cat who disappeared some days ago after a grand mal seizure and I will watch everyone else smack their lips after crunching on the hormigas culonas.

An Amarillo Cat

I'm not sure how the conversation got started, but at any event, it was about cats and preferred colors. There were several of us sitting around discussing the merits of one color over another and I said, "I don't like yellow cats. I've never had one, but I don't think I'd ever choose one." The color yellow is 'amarillo' in Spanish and now you can probably guess where this tale is going.

Introducing: PASQUAL, the Easter cat.
Does anyone else think the color
yellow is a dominant theme here?

When I went with my doctor friend to Socorro, our mission was to take her cat to the vet as they can do 'turn-around EKG's' and other animal medical tests quickly. Although it is more than an hour away from Barichara, for my friend and her very ill cat it was a necessity. Her white cat had been ill off and on for several months, and she wanted some answers.

Once at the vet's, tests were done and the waiting began. While we were waiting, a rather friendly cat came over and pushed his yellow tiger-striped face right into mine. My friend announced, "Oh, he's here because he was suspected of rabies. He bit a woman who was trying to push him away with her broom." Nice.

I noticed that he was totally fearless around the dogs that were being brought into the waiting area. He would walk up and stick his nose into theirs as if to say, "Whaddya gonna do about that, doggie?" And they would be so confounded by being approached by a CAT that they often just shrank away and looked to their owners for an explanation.

Some time later, while I was holding and stroking him, this same seemingly sweet cat grabbed onto my arm with his mouth and chomped down on me. When my friend started to pick him up to remove him, he bit her, too. Quick treatment was offered by the vet for our minor injuries and a promise to let us know if he had rabies... comforting.

While we were at lunch, we discussed the yellow cat, the biting, and his situation. Apparently he would have to be watched for a week, as it takes that long for a rabies test to be completed. "But I don't think he has rabies," she assured me.  She said after the tests came back, the vet would have to find it another home as she already had two cats. Feeling sorry for the ferocious, but friendly feline, I took it some left over chicken from our lunch.

The vet knew I was weakening... she said, "He's a young male, and I think if he's fixed, he'll make someone a sweet pet. He's really quite affectionate when he's not thinking about mating." And as I sat there, waiting for my friend and her cat's diagnosis, the name PASQUAL popped into my head. I looked up and that Amarillo cat was, I feel almost certain, smiling at me.

However, for the most part, it was a sad afternoon. My friend's cat was diagnosed with liver cancer with not much time left. We returned to Barichara, I did Reiki on him and on his master and he passed peacefully a few days later. The vet said that white cats in Colombia have a higher incidence of fatal cancers and she doesn't know why except that they seem to be genetically disposed to it.

Pasqual lying on my bed next to a 'loaner' kitten to help
him get adjusted to a new home. It was a friend's idea to
provide a kitten. They both settled right in!

But on the ride back, my friend remarked, "If you take PASQUAL, his name will be a testimony to his being 'resurrected' from a certain fate and he will be your Easter gift to yourself." Ah, yes, and then there's the concern about the cat-hating, sweet-natured Scott, the dog who lives on the property. How will this work?

But here I am a week later, having picked up the yellow cat who had his attitude adjusted with a small surgery so he would be calmer. He is all of that. And the next day, he walked right up to Scott and sniffed him and must have said something to him in "dog" that he could understand, because they are managing a detente that would make both Russia and the U.S. proud.

Tonight that Amarillo cat is lying next to me, after pushing his yellow striped head into mine before going to sleep. And I am pretty sure he is smiling. I know I am.

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.

The Rain in Spain stayed mainly on the ...

My return to Colombia was heralded by buckets of rain... rain in Bogota, rain in Socorro, rain in Barichara. Apparently there were five continuous days of rain and the rivers were already swollen and violently rushing to the next biggest river.

This is the road heading toward Socorro, the next largest
city, south of San Gil. It used to be the seat of the state of
Santander, but that is now in Bucaramanga.

I've been back for a month and during this time we've had 17 days of rain. Last night and tonight there have actually been thunderstorms and I got caught in a downpour coming out of the theatre group meeting. The streets had water rushing down them so rapidly it would have been dangerous to try and cross them!

The heavy rain is a serious concern because the ground gets so soggy that there is nothing to keep the rocks and trees from simply sliding down the steep inclines. This event is called a 'derumba,' and can cause the roads to become impassable.

The good news is that President Santos has pledged funding for repair of this main road through Santander. The not-so-good-news is that he hasn't said WHERE the funds will come from and Santandarianos' pockets are already pretty well picked. But improved roads will likely mean more tourists will come to visit and that might fill up those impoverished pockets.

Although the rain in Spain stayed mainly on the plain, there are few plains here to hold the rain and instead we drive being on the lookout for rocks, trees and dirt from above along with wild drivers in our lane on the curvy roads... making life quite interesting.

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.