My Life Because of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Living abroad from the time I was 20 years old, anyone that I meet, were curious about my country of origin. I would tell them I am Colombian, which usually would open two windows of discussion. One was the negative image of the 80’s, due to a corrupted system. Which of course, I would fry them with my sarcasm.
The other one, everyone would tell me, “ I read One hundred Years of Solitude”. And of course, everyone wanted to know if we Colombians were as depicted on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s books. I would smile, because I knew that what I was going to tell them, it was going to take a while. It was not a conversation of five minutes. It was a conversation about a nation built by so many cultures that set deep roots in a fertile land. And I was ready to entrance them with the magic of our beautiful culture.
Living in New York at that time, I could do many parallels between NYC and Barranquilla, which I would often described in my letters to my grandfather Heli. Except I would tell him, here happiness is not found in the streets, as we often do in Barranquilla while going for a walk. And from this moment of sweet happiness is from where I start. That's because happiness in Barranquilla is for sale. Does any other place in the world sells happiness? Well, we do. But I was not allowed to buy it. It is not like I was going to loose my self in a bite. But my mother being from the interior of the country, and coming from a Conservative family just as Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes in books of these differences, coastal people vs. the interior of the Country people, Liberals vs. Conservatives, she would tell me of all the things that would go wrong if I had a bite of it. So yeah, I grew up knowing of these differences because "they", meaning my family, made me aware of it.
I was born in the coast. My family came from Medellin,Honda, Bogota, Ibague, and Cali. And let me remind you again, I was born in the coast, in the city of Barranquilla. So in this big minestrone of cultural, religious, and behavioral contrasts is how we Colombian are. But before I move to current times, I will explain of the differences that were created in Colonial times when the Spaniards bringing African men, dominated the Indigenous habitants by stealing their land,controlling them with the fear of a vengeful God that would only love you and forgive you, if you give all the gold to the church, meaning Queen Isabel La Catolica. Okay, I am being sarcastic here. Then to make it even worse, the Spaniards said that any child from Spaniard parents born in the New Continent (for them was a New Continent),would not have the same rights, they called them Criollos.
And this is how the many Social classes and race distinctions were created. Here there are: Mulato, the union between an African and European. The union between an Indigenous and European were called Mestizo. And the union between an African, and an Indigenous were called Zambo. The African men were considered the lowest class. Liberation came with Simon Bolivar, and so on.
But this part in our history is so important because in a beautiful and, a found paradise, where many conquistadors try to find the forbidden fruit of eternal life, new customs were born. Myth, Magic, and Religious customs created unique stories that were told by the ladies that worked in my house. They spoke of spirits, animals that spoke, whales that announced death. I loved them all. My mother would get upset with me because what they said was non-sense. But I loved it. My grandmother spoke of the political conflicts that were between Liberals and Conservatives while correcting my vocabulary with words such as grifo vs. pluma, enchufe vs. enchufle, capul vs. china, and many other words that we Colombians know about it.
Our dances and music such as Cumbia, Vallenatos, Mapale, Bambuco, Joropo; were influenced by our colorful heritage. Cumbia was a dance of seduction between an African man and an Indigenous woman. Vallenatos was a way to carry the news from one town to another one. Mapale, well, we tried to dance it only to see the eyes of disapproval of our grandmother. Our cuisine is influenced by all of this. A fried fish is not a fried fish unless you eat it with patacon, and coconut rice. An ajiaco must have that herb named guasca and papas criollas. And we drink avocado shake!
Traveling through our country when I was a kid, I got to meet indigenous people from La Sierra Nevada, La Guajira, and other tribes that I can’t remember their name. But each of them a jewel as to whom we are as a nation.
Our mannerisms are particular. I can recognize any Colombian as to how they talk, move and dance. Even our accent is particularly Colombian, not Spanish but Colombian.
So yes, this is what I tell people when they would ask me about his book. I had to make them to understand that a song is not a song unless it tells a story. That a dance is not a dance unless it is felt in the heart beat by beat harmonizing with the drums or in our hips carried by the sea. That a Colombian family not only will welcome you into their home but will share all the drama and secrets. That the word “secret” from the lips of a Colombian, can only mean a colorful story embellished, and exaggerated by everyone that have told it. And that if you really want it to be a secret, then you must say, I will take it with me to my grave, and that's because, we love to exaggerate, and dramatize everything. That it is important to wake up with the smell of well- brewed coffee! And that our breakfasts are famous!
Gabriel Garcia Marquez has always been my favorite writer then and now. I have read, and re-read his books many times, both in Spanish and English (because I was really curious about the translation). As I read his stories I fell into his spell. It was a spell that I knew somewhat, but not intensely as he described in his books. His books were open secrets. He wrote about a magical land where the impossible is possible. He wrote about eternal idealistic love and finally being consumed at old age. He wrote about all the demons that possess us. He wrote about what he knew well, our beautiful country and its people.
When he won the Noble prize in literature, I remember coming home from school and my mom so excited telling me all about it. Colombians were and are proud of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He walked the city where I grew up. He unwrapped Colombia for the world to see. We will miss you… Too bad I never had a chance to meet you,but I know all your books by heart.
And because of you, Gabo, as people that knew you called you, and only this time I will permit myself to do so, when I think about my hidden happiness that I eat with delight without my mother telling me of all the things I was going to die, I think of the beautiful African/Colombian women, the queen of happiness seducing everyone with her joyful cry: "alegria, alegria de coco y anis".
And when someone asks me where that color came from, I said to him or her, have you ever eaten a mamon? And this is because of you. RIP - Ethel Bustamante
The other one, everyone would tell me, “ I read One hundred Years of Solitude”. And of course, everyone wanted to know if we Colombians were as depicted on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s books. I would smile, because I knew that what I was going to tell them, it was going to take a while. It was not a conversation of five minutes. It was a conversation about a nation built by so many cultures that set deep roots in a fertile land. And I was ready to entrance them with the magic of our beautiful culture.
Living in New York at that time, I could do many parallels between NYC and Barranquilla, which I would often described in my letters to my grandfather Heli. Except I would tell him, here happiness is not found in the streets, as we often do in Barranquilla while going for a walk. And from this moment of sweet happiness is from where I start. That's because happiness in Barranquilla is for sale. Does any other place in the world sells happiness? Well, we do. But I was not allowed to buy it. It is not like I was going to loose my self in a bite. But my mother being from the interior of the country, and coming from a Conservative family just as Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes in books of these differences, coastal people vs. the interior of the Country people, Liberals vs. Conservatives, she would tell me of all the things that would go wrong if I had a bite of it. So yeah, I grew up knowing of these differences because "they", meaning my family, made me aware of it.
I was born in the coast. My family came from Medellin,Honda, Bogota, Ibague, and Cali. And let me remind you again, I was born in the coast, in the city of Barranquilla. So in this big minestrone of cultural, religious, and behavioral contrasts is how we Colombian are. But before I move to current times, I will explain of the differences that were created in Colonial times when the Spaniards bringing African men, dominated the Indigenous habitants by stealing their land,controlling them with the fear of a vengeful God that would only love you and forgive you, if you give all the gold to the church, meaning Queen Isabel La Catolica. Okay, I am being sarcastic here. Then to make it even worse, the Spaniards said that any child from Spaniard parents born in the New Continent (for them was a New Continent),would not have the same rights, they called them Criollos.
And this is how the many Social classes and race distinctions were created. Here there are: Mulato, the union between an African and European. The union between an Indigenous and European were called Mestizo. And the union between an African, and an Indigenous were called Zambo. The African men were considered the lowest class. Liberation came with Simon Bolivar, and so on.
But this part in our history is so important because in a beautiful and, a found paradise, where many conquistadors try to find the forbidden fruit of eternal life, new customs were born. Myth, Magic, and Religious customs created unique stories that were told by the ladies that worked in my house. They spoke of spirits, animals that spoke, whales that announced death. I loved them all. My mother would get upset with me because what they said was non-sense. But I loved it. My grandmother spoke of the political conflicts that were between Liberals and Conservatives while correcting my vocabulary with words such as grifo vs. pluma, enchufe vs. enchufle, capul vs. china, and many other words that we Colombians know about it.
Our dances and music such as Cumbia, Vallenatos, Mapale, Bambuco, Joropo; were influenced by our colorful heritage. Cumbia was a dance of seduction between an African man and an Indigenous woman. Vallenatos was a way to carry the news from one town to another one. Mapale, well, we tried to dance it only to see the eyes of disapproval of our grandmother. Our cuisine is influenced by all of this. A fried fish is not a fried fish unless you eat it with patacon, and coconut rice. An ajiaco must have that herb named guasca and papas criollas. And we drink avocado shake!
Traveling through our country when I was a kid, I got to meet indigenous people from La Sierra Nevada, La Guajira, and other tribes that I can’t remember their name. But each of them a jewel as to whom we are as a nation.
Our mannerisms are particular. I can recognize any Colombian as to how they talk, move and dance. Even our accent is particularly Colombian, not Spanish but Colombian.
So yes, this is what I tell people when they would ask me about his book. I had to make them to understand that a song is not a song unless it tells a story. That a dance is not a dance unless it is felt in the heart beat by beat harmonizing with the drums or in our hips carried by the sea. That a Colombian family not only will welcome you into their home but will share all the drama and secrets. That the word “secret” from the lips of a Colombian, can only mean a colorful story embellished, and exaggerated by everyone that have told it. And that if you really want it to be a secret, then you must say, I will take it with me to my grave, and that's because, we love to exaggerate, and dramatize everything. That it is important to wake up with the smell of well- brewed coffee! And that our breakfasts are famous!
Gabriel Garcia Marquez has always been my favorite writer then and now. I have read, and re-read his books many times, both in Spanish and English (because I was really curious about the translation). As I read his stories I fell into his spell. It was a spell that I knew somewhat, but not intensely as he described in his books. His books were open secrets. He wrote about a magical land where the impossible is possible. He wrote about eternal idealistic love and finally being consumed at old age. He wrote about all the demons that possess us. He wrote about what he knew well, our beautiful country and its people.
When he won the Noble prize in literature, I remember coming home from school and my mom so excited telling me all about it. Colombians were and are proud of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He walked the city where I grew up. He unwrapped Colombia for the world to see. We will miss you… Too bad I never had a chance to meet you,but I know all your books by heart.
And because of you, Gabo, as people that knew you called you, and only this time I will permit myself to do so, when I think about my hidden happiness that I eat with delight without my mother telling me of all the things I was going to die, I think of the beautiful African/Colombian women, the queen of happiness seducing everyone with her joyful cry: "alegria, alegria de coco y anis".
And when someone asks me where that color came from, I said to him or her, have you ever eaten a mamon? And this is because of you. RIP - Ethel Bustamante