La Feria de la Alegría
Mesa De Los Santos is famous for its Mercado Campesino (the farmers’ market). I had been told that at stand 14 of this market they sell the best Arepas de Choclo of Colombia!
After having hiked and climbed for multiple days I felt so tired and isolated in my own and other travellers’ energy that I needed something different, challenging, local. With very little information other than “stand 14” I took a bus towards the plateau of Los Santos in search of this famous arepa.
When I hopped off the bus I felt ‘it’ run through my entire body. ‘It’ being that sensation of viscerally knowing that you’re in the right spot at the right time. I had one little issue though; I didn’t have much cash left and the search for an ATM was fruitless. I decided to make the best of it though, use the money I still had and figure out a solution later.
Colombians have struck me to be such heartfelt people, seemingly always willing to help, have a chat, but they’re especially keen on having a good time, and that is expressed by vibrant music and lively dancing. As I was eating my arepa de choclo at stand 14, I was right on the edge of the central square where a bunch of seniors were giving a dance exhibition. They were inviting people from the crowd to dance with them. What’s the fun in dancing by yourself, right?
Arepa de Choclo I barely paid attention to my arepa, I was too busy looking at their feet, trying to mentally copy the moves. When the woman with the upside-down hat came around, I dropped in my last coins. She asked me if I was here with a girl. I looked around me, then back at her, raised my shoulders and smiled that I was alone. Her eyes glistened and she took me by the hand. She paired me up with one of the dancing women, who made me feel like a virgin. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was doing it. “What are we dancing?”, I asked in her ear, trying to be heard over the loud music. “CARANGA!”, she yelled back at me. Later I learned that they call it the Reggeaton Campesino lol. The song came to an end, I thanked her and made my way to the side again, but her friends had something else in mind. All of them wanted to dance with the young and single extranjero. I couldn’t catch a break, but I was having too much fun to rest anyway. I did wonder where these 70-year-old women were getting their infinite energy from.
After hours of jumping left and right, pirouetting from partner to partner, and laughing my heart out, I had learned that they’re a senior dancing group from Bucaramanga (3 hours driving from Los Santos). They came all the way here, because tonight there was a performance from Caranga superstars: LOS DOTORES DE LA CARANGA! They invited me to go and dance with them. D1, I was in!
The story goes on into a wonderful night of dancing and laughing until we were tired to the bone. Yet, the point of this post lies somewhere else.
I wanted to write this down to remember something special I experienced on that day.
When you let go of things, of trying to control situations, or exerting an influence on faith.
When you let yourself be childlike again.
When you’re free from shame, doubt, and the what-if or what-will-they-think questions.
When you allow life to be.
That’s when the magic happens!
"In the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go."⁃ Life of Pi (2012)Blog out!
Durim
Ostend, 18/12/2023
