Colombian Culture, Colombia Adoption and Raising Colombian Kids

As growing coca and producing cocaine becomes more difficult, rebels are turning to Gold Mines for money. The NY Times offers the following report.

Put an end to ivory poaching! Switch to TAGUA! Tagua is a kind of plant based ivory which is derived from ivory palms in places like Colombia. It is a sustainable alternative to animal ivory because Tagua looks like animal ivory -- with a rich, creamy color. It also acts like ivory and can be carved and worked into just about anything that would traditionally be made from ivory. An additional bonus of Tagua is that when cultivated and harvested responsibly, it can also help preserve the rainforest. Tagua is actually the seed of the ivory palm, aka the Phytelephas aequatorialis. They are found throughout the rainforests of South America, particularly on the Pacific coast of Colombia. When, thinking of a souvenir purchase, support Tagua! For that matter, support stores in your home town that offer Tagua products -- especially if those products come fron Colombia! :)

If you were to dissect a Salsa song in search of its back bone, you would have to set aside several other rhythms, piled onto the core like layers of tissue. This is because, as we have been discussing, Salsa is made up of several rhythms, mostly of Cuban origin. As we also have learned, Cuban origin means African origin. In this dissection, eventually you would run into the simple sound made by two pieces of wood striking each other. It is a very distinctive pow, pow, pow, powpow -type rhythm, or three distinct hit-pause-hit-pause-hit pause, followed by two hit-hit impacts closer to each other, all this repeated over and over. " Cinco golpes en dos compases de música " (five notes in two music measures) is what those who understand this sort of thing call it. They also call this simple rhythmic progression a clave (a key). There are several claves , the most common are the Son , the Rumba , and the Samba , all Cuban descendants of African claves . When performing th...

The PAEZ Indians of Colombia, also known as the NASA , are found in an area called Tierradentro in the Department of Cauca (today's department) and Huila. Based on their total population, they are the second largest indigenous group in Colombia with a little less than 140,000 people. In 1536, the Spanish conquistador, Sebastian del Belalcazar, tried to subdue the Paez Indians, but to no avail. Later, Belalcazar ordered the construction of a city -- San Vicente de Paez, right in the heart of Tierradentro. However, in short order, the Paez had destroyed the city. Belalcazar was reported to have said, "What we don't win with our weapons, we will win with our priests!" Indeed, the next weapon tried to pacify the Paez was the Catholic religion. However, this tactic was also unsuccessful. One priest reported, "The Paeces are the most barbarian of any people found in these new lands. They resist everything....They laugh out loud when they are taught (the catech...

While I do not want to take away from Colombian Daddy's Tunes for Tuesday -- I didn't want to miss the opportunity to introduce you to another Afrocolombian musical group-- PROFETAS. While they have been around since 1997, it has only been in the last 5-6 years that their music and name has been making the rounds in such places as Rolling Stone Magazine (2006) and now at SXSW. You can read more here: http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS14089 Catch their SXSW interview below and their song Baila below in a separate post.

While tourism in the Colombian Amazon is booming, there is one indigenous community that is rejecting the ideas of tourists in their community. Here, AFP reports on this community. However, they do not allow embedding, so you will have to click on the link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rBFTI9ZQ3k