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Tag Archives: San German

FALSE BORDERS (Our own frontiers)

18 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Philosophical

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Catholics, Chango, Culture, El Fangito, Luisa Aldea, Mesta, Moors, Music, Nigerian, Puerto Rico, San German, Santiago Apostol, St. Peter, Vigigantes, Yorubans

Originally Posted six years ago on one of my other blogs.

 

(Multiculturalism, good, bad or indifferent?)

Man invents frontiers and borders for himself. If he would just stop there it would be one thing; but he doesn’t. He attempts to imprint his frontiers and borders on others.

Maybe these cultural differences that we talk about are actually good for us. Men, women, beings; they all must have Something (capital S intended) to believe in. Maybe it isn’t the “Something”, maybe it is the strength of the belief that really matters. The “Something” could just as well be “something.” It does not have to be a deity. Possibly it is a belief that the human race, collectively, will keep adding to instead of subtracting from this earth. When the atheist believes strongly that there is no god, then the strength of his belief is as valid as one who does believe. How many gods can exist? Maybe One. Possibly more. Or none?

My words above intend to raise the following question. Is the strength of a belief as good as the belief itself? If two people have two different belief systems can they live with each other, next to each other, and get along? Or must they imprint their beliefs on the other until they “win?” Is it better for each to hang on tightly to their own beliefs and yet be able to utilize the good they find in the other’s beliefs to enhance their own?

The circular argument that I offer has to do with the small village of Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico. Prior to defining Loiza Aldea I am required to take you back to Iberia and Africa in previous times.

In Spain the miraculous appearance of St. James the Apostle (Santiago Apostol) is a legend. The embattled Catholic Militias had fought for centuries to displace the Islamic Moors who had captured Andalusia; the southern section of the Iberian Peninsula (el Andalus). This miraculous appearance of Santiago Apostol gave the Christian militias the will to fight. After five hundred years the Moors were driven out.

Subsequently, but definitely not in a just manner, these militias became controllers of the Catholic sheep raising cartel. Their common name was the Mesta. The farmers in el Andalus were severely misused by the cartel. The Mesta was allowed to herd and drive its sheep wherever it wished. Farm crops were overrun and destroyed by the sheep.

Compensation was not required to be paid for the damage. The famished and desperate people migrated from Spain by the thousands; many of them establishing their new homes in Puerto Rico.

In Africa, shortly thereafter, Nigerian Yoruba Tribes were decimated by Islamic slave traders. Some of these slaves were brought to Puerto Rico to work the farms.

Eventually the class gap between rich and poor Spanish immigrants grew wider. Many poor Spanish families squatted on the swampy lagoons of Carolinas east of Old San Juan. This squat village became known as El Fangito (the swamp). Over the years some of these families were joined by Yoruban families. The people of El Fangito were eventually forced to move. Their own government destroyed their homes that rested on stilts above the muddy lagoons. About the same time escaped slaves and freemen had previously migrated to Loiza Aldea where a Native Indian (Taino) compound existed.

The native Taino had, as their queen, “Yuiza.” The Yoruban population had, as their warrior god, “Chango”, who had fought the Islamic slave traders. The Spanish had, as their patron, “Santiago Apostol.”

Each July in Loiza Aldea a ten day festival is held to commemorate the victory of Santiago Apostol. But the borders and frontiers are in voluntary disarray. The local people voluntarily take on the persona of the “Vijigantes”; the Islamic slave traders. These locals dress in colorful and blousy costumes with frightful masks made of coconut shells. Multiple images of Santiago Apostle, Queen Yuiza and warrior Chango share the streets with each other.

St. Peter, patron of the local church, also holds a prominent place. The flag of Loiza Aldea is flown with its multi-cultural simulacrums of the yellow Yoiza River. Meanwhile the bells of the church of St. Peter also appear on the flag.

God and metaphysical thought remain ignorant of borders or cultural frontiers in Loiza Aldea. They remain unaffected by the time or space that the ancestors of the local people occupied. Yet their God (a trinity of Spanish, African and Caribbean cultures) is now one, or if you prefer, One.

Across the small island of Puerto Rico other cultures developed. People believed strongly, no matter whether they belonged in an agricultural area, a devout Catholic area or the new metropolitans that were emerging.

On the opposite corner of the island from Luisa Aldea was a city that had been transplanted in the 1600’s; San German. Originally it was located on the southern coast of Puerto Rico; near the Phosphorescent Bay. After being pillaged several times by pirates the village made a decision. They packed their belongings and several religious artifacts that had been salvaged. With a strong belief in God they hauled their treasures fifteen miles through mountainous jungles to their new San German. The town remains a devout Catholic center.

All of these cultures of Puerto Rico remained strong in their individual beliefs. None of these cultures imposed on each other. Rather, they set an example of what was good in each culture. Those who wished to adopt another culture, partially or whole, did so. Those that did not; did not. Today these cultures live in harmony with each other.

Governmental politics are another matter.

But I must leave politics behind in order to visit a more beautiful place.

 

I will not bore you with more of my own words. I now allow you to see the history of one of the most beautiful and cross-cultural peoples of the world: PUERTO RICO!

The History of Loiza Aldea

http://elyunque.com/loiza.htm

The Festival of Santiago Apostol; 1949

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPCnx-GXs4M

The Festival as it was in 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GprotRjo8Z8

The Culture and Music of the Farmers in Puerto Rico; 1930

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwnRkCNm1tI

Today and Yesterday on the opposite corner of the island; San German

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGicz7iGJ8E

AN OPEN LETTER TO SAN GERMAN

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Odds and Ends

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Aguacate, Avacado, Calle Victoria, Hotel Oasis, La Linea, La Parguera, LaCariba, Malanga, Pasteles, Pastelillos, Pirates, Porta Coeli, Puerto Rico, San German, The Caribbean, The Marketplace, Town Square

I met him 52 years ago

I married him 50 years ago

I met him again yesterday

And the day before that

And last week

And last year

 

 My sons drop in

But I cannot say their names

I am afraid I will mix them up

So I say nothing

I nod

And attempt a smile

Not convincingly

I am sure.

 

Do they know that I know?

Do they know how unhappy it makes me?

 

 

But not sad all the time

From my chair I

Sometimes visit San German

I see my Momi and Popi

I see my friends.

 

There is Sally and Fredi

Wanda and Margarita

Sally’s brother Poppy

Don’t forget Tonita!

 

There are others

I forget their names

We all belonged to “Club Indio”

The club met on Sally’s front steps

Or Somewhere on Calle Victoria.

 

Later we had boyfriends

We walked on the town square

San German

Past Porta Coeli

Puerto Rico

Up and down the “City of Hills”

 

In my mind I can see

InterAmerican University

The market place

Aguacate

Aguacate

Malanga

Puerto Rican Food

Mamacita buying banana leaf

For making pasteles

Pastelejos

The food images come easily

Maybe because of the fragrances.

 

But now I am in my new country

My adopted country

My Spanish has gone

My English has followed

I am silent.

 

I am thirsty

I do not remember my water glass

Maybe he will offer me some

He sometimes forgets

I always forget

We miss each other

While sitting together.

 

The TV keeps talking

I watch

It takes up my time

I don’t know what they say

He doesn’t listen to what they say

He has his computer

I think he loves it

More than me.

 

And so I visit San German

The “City of Hills”

That once was by  the Caribbean

and La Paguera

Where pirates raided

My ancestors moved San German

Over the mountains

Piece by piece

And built Porta Coeli

And San German

And its steep streets

And the square.

 

Then Hotel Oasis

Then La linea came

And the market place

The cementerio

Cementario Porto Coeli San German

Where Mamacita

Popi

Nicki

Louis

Julia

Felicita

And others

Now sleep.

 

It is not for me

I have a new place

In my new country

Where he and I will sleep together

Maybe I will remember his name

Maybe he will remember my water

Maybe we will travel once more

To San German.

 

That would make me happy

I could visit Sally and Margarita

I could visit my sisters

And brothers

All thirteen of them.

 

Maybe mamacita would comb my hair

And Popi would let me sit on his lap

To play with the hairs growing from his ears

And I would have my own pony again

And I could play with the children

Of the sugar cane workers

And walk on the steep streets of San German.

Calle Victoria

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky

 

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