Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Photo: Screenshot of Susana Baca album, “Eco de Sombras”
**

In the world of “Latin music,” Susana Baca and Carlos Varela are both big names.

Baca is an Afro-Peruvian singer whose songs tell “the story of African identity as transplanted, transformed and even repressed in her native country.”* Varela is a 47-year old Cuban folk singer who, in his own words “es alguien que canta la realidad de la juventud cubana con [todos] sus defectos y virtudes.” ["someone who sings the reality of Cuban youth with all of its flaws and virtues."]. Not counting Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez–both of whom are older than he– Varela is probably Cuba’s best-known vocalist in this genre.

Though well-loved in New York City, Baca makes infrequent appearances here, and the United States’ persistently noxious diplomatic relations with Cuba always present an obstacle for artists like Varela when they go about securing a visa to perform here. Both will be here this week, though, as part of Lincoln Center’s annual Out of Doors Festival.

The free performance starts at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 11, at the Damrosch Park Bandshell, the outdoor amphitheatre behind the main plaza. Seating is provided by Lincoln Center, but get there early, as this performance will be well-attended.

Francisco will be photographing the performance for Lincoln Center.

To see photographs from last year’s Out of Doors Festival, click here.

If you’d like to listen to Baca’s and Varela’s music, we recommend Baca’s album “Eco de Sombras” and Varela’s recently released “All His Greatest Hits.”

*Quote by Larry Blumenfeld, of The Wall Street Journal

Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Photos: Francisco Collazo

It’s true, we’ve posted nothing since April. Let’s skip the usual excuses and apologies, shall we, and just say that it’s been so long that we even forgot our own password.

It’s been a busy, fun time.

“Fun Slide,” Aibonito, Puerto Rico, June 2010

Though we never would have expected it when we high-tailed it out of Puerto Rico with all engines thrusting, the island we called home for more than 2.5 years has become one of our writing and photography niches. Fodor’s Puerto Rico, 6th Edition will be hitting bookstore shelves in August. Julie wrote several features for the book, including “History You Can See,” “State of the Arts in Puerto Rico,” “Salsa,” “A Guide to Puerto Rico’s Carved Saints,” and a 14 page itinerary for the Ruta Panoramica, the first time the Ruta’s been featured in the Fodor’s guide. Several of Francisco’s photos illustrate these and other features.

Yes, the guide book has mistakes. And yes, parts of it are already out of date. That’s why you’ll need to supplement it with the iPhone app we’re (slowly but surely) producing. More on that later.

Julie also has a feature article about Puerto Rico’s Ruta Panoramica (Panoramic Route) that will be published in the September issue of Latina Magazine, and several of Francisco’s photos will accompany this piece as well.

A mid-June trip to Puerto Rico and a return trip planned for September will see other writing and photography projects come to fruition. In the meantime, you can read about violence on the island and the problem with lionfish on PR’s Southern coast over at Matador, and take a look at photos from Yauco (one of PR’s coffee-producing towns), Aibonito (home of the annual flower festival), and other cities and towns we visited in June.

Between now and our next Puerto Rico visit, Julie will be headed to Cuba to visit Francisco’s family and to work on a few stories, including several pieces about Havana’s Chinese Cuban population, a subject that she’s been working on for the past couple years.

And other projects abound- a photo essay about scientific research at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base for Discover Magazine and the conversion of CollazoProjects from a blog into a full-blown website.

What are you up to these days? Fill us in by leaving a comment below!

Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Mexico & Colombia Photos: Francisco Collazo
Cuba Photo: Brayan Collazo
**

Back in December, Lola Akinmade invited me to participate in the Tripbase Best-Kept Travel Secrets Project. Time got away from me and I never followed through.

Earlier this week, Katie Erica, the writer who started the project, invited me to participate- again- so this time, I won’t let her down!

The idea behind the project is to crowd-source an epic list of travel writers’ favorite places, preferably places that are “secret.”

Now you can argue whether sharing “secret” places is a good idea, as the excellent writer David Page did in the article “Travelers’ Omerta: Is There No Place We Should Keep Secret?” It’s a valid question and one that leads to important reflections.

But the places where I travel aren’t really secret. They’re pretty much in plain view for everyone to see and visit… they simply choose not to.

So here are my three “best-kept travel secrets” and my defense of why you should visit each of them:

Mexico City, Mexico

If I could have any job other than the one I have, it would be a full-time evangelist for Mexico City.

Seriously, this is THE most exciting city on the planet, and if you know me or read my writing regularly, you know I don’t use words like “most” or “must-see” frequently.

I will spend my life trying to write a more persuasive, poignant description of Mexico City than David Lida, but until then, I’ll simply cite him with gratitude for articulating my exact feelings about “el DF”:

“I had been utterly seduced by the constant sensations of contrast, surprise, even tumult.”

“[I]t has absorbed and swallowed all the centuries of its history, yet most of them are still in evidence in some regurgitated form on the streets.”

“Mexico City is constantly improvising a new invention of itself.”

I could go on and on, but do yourself a favor and read Lida’s book, First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, The Capital of the 21st Century. Start reading his blog. And then, put Mexico City on the top of your travel list.

And once you’re there, make sure you witness the daily flag ceremony in the Zocalo. Go to a lecture at Casa Lamm and then visit their restaurant for an overpriced but totally worth it martini (try carambola). And throw yourself into a visit to Mercado San Juan like it’s the most important thing you’ll do all year. Just don’t forget your camera.

CUBA

First, understand this: Cuba is not closed.

It’s very much open for tourism and business and even if you’re an American you can go there.

I explain how in “How to Travel to Cuba and Why You Should Do It Now.”

I guarantee that you’ll come back from Cuba a changed person, one who has begun to understand what a complex nation it is, one that exists outside of all the polarized rhetoric about it. And if you don’t, well, I’ll take you out for dinner and we can talk about it.

What should you do while you’re there? I’ve written about some favorite Havana attractions for TravelMuse and favorite nightlife spots for Matador.

3. Mompox, Colombia

You’ve got to be determined to get to Mompox. You have to cross a river in a sketchy boat, then take a motorbike or sturdy vehicle to this UNESCO World Heritage site.

But if you do, it will be worth the effort, especially if you plan a visit of a week or longer.

Colombia’s legendary river, the Magdalena, runs right through the town, which is rumored to be the inspiration for novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s imaginary town of Macondo. There’s not a raucous nightlife here, or dozens of museums, but there are lots and lots of stories.

If you visit, book a bed at Matador contributor Richard McColl’s La Casa Amarilla, which Francisco and I tended for a month in 2008.

**
What are your favorite travel “secrets”? Share them–or not!–in the comments.
**
And be sure to check out the blogs of these writers, who I’m “tagging” to participate in the Tripbase project:

Hal Amen: WayWorded
Donna Arioldi: Prepare for Crosscheck
Megan Hill: See.Write.Live.
Reeti Roy: Clickety Click Click
Michelle Schusterman: MusicTravelWrite

Text: Francisco Collazo
Translation: Julie Schwietert Collazo
**

Photo: waitingalessio

Time and distance heal all wounds… so goes the old saying. It’s one that’s always been close to me as an immigrant. Sometimes it’s been a true description of my experiences, and other times, not so much.

For example, those experiences that compelled me to leave my country haven’t miraculously transformed into an equally compelling reason to return. That which hurt me continues to hurt, but with the passage of time it’s attenuated a bit by nostalgia’s particular ability to rescue other elements of experience and identity that I wasn’t even aware of before.

Music and food, in particular, are the elements of identity that resuscitate my “Cubanidad.” I travel into my own depths to recover that which I’d never paid much attention to before. Old songs that were never relevant or interesting to me in the least capture my attention and release a torrent of intense emotion capable of hair-triggering tears. These songs aren’t even from my generation, they’re not from my hometown, they’re not representative of my own experiences, but they still touch me. And deeply.

A few hours ago, I heard for the first time the songs of Maria Teresa Vera with my soul’s ear. Vera, a Cuban composer, penned immortal classics like “20 Years,” “Nena,” and “Aurora,” and interpreted “Black Weddings” by Colombian composer Carlos Borges Alberto Villalón, “I’ve Lost With You” and other ballads from the Cuban trova period that today are repackaged and resold for a new generation. I look and in Vera I see a genuine and original voice singing for all the trovadores of all eras. Online, I find emotional comments about Vera’s songs that are so passionate they almost fill me with embarrassment for not having paid Vera much attention before.

Cuban trova; Photo: Cybertiesto

I know I’m not alone in these types of experiences, but I continue to feel surprised when I look at myself feeling profound nostalgia for the images and experiences these types of songs bring up. For example, my memories of Barbarito Diez, who some radio stations opposed. The duo Los Compadres, which I detested because it was their music that woke me up when I was serving in the military–”Wake up, Cuban!”–when I was 16.

Of Cuban cooking… ah, there’s a strange nostalgia there, too. I’d never eaten okra in Cuba- I associated its slimy texture with the mucus from a contagious cold. But today I buy okra regularly and experiment with all its possibilities.

It’s true–right?– that last winter wasn’t as cold as the one that’s coming. The rain that soaked me was soft and refreshing. In some cases, time changes our memories of the past. My home in Cuba was large and cool… when in reality, when I returned, it was tiny and dark.

Exile is the natural enemy of memory; it changes you. You become your memories, you’re forced to look through old drawers to find the parts of yourself that can be salvaged. As strange as it seems, today I miss those things that never meant anything to me. I miss the`sounds of old trova, the compositions of María Teresa Vera, and the insipid taste of okra.

**

Photo: Robin Thom

La verdad es que con el tiempo y la distancia se olvidan las penas, un conocido dicho expresa. Para mi este ha sido un hecho muy presente en mis experiencias en el exterior, algunas veces muy verdadero y otras no muy reales del todo.

Por ejemplo, aquellos incidentes que me sacaron de carrera de mi país de origen no se han convertidos en una razón maravillosa para regresar de nuevo. Aquello que me dolió sigue doliendo, pero con el andar del tiempo la nostalgia ha ido rescatando otros elementos que antes no lo tenia en cuenta. Y la música y las comidas son en especial los elementos de identidad que rescata la cubanidad en mi.

Viajo en mis adentros para rescatar lo que en algún tiempo ni siquiera consideraba. Viejas canciones de antaño que no tenían relevancia alguna llegan a mi como un torrencial de emociones vivas que me sacan las lagrimas a a por botones al oírlas cantar. Estas no son ni siquiera de mi tiempo, ni de mi región natal, ni de mi experiencias pasadas, pero me llegan y me llegan muy fuertes.

Hace unas horas apenas por primera vez escuche con el oído del alma las interpretaciones de María Teresa Vera, compositora cubana de canciones inmortales como “Veinte Años,” “Nena,” e “Aurora,” “Bodas Negras” del compositor colombiano Carlos Borges Alberto Villalón, “He Perdido Contigo,” y otras baladas de la trova cubana de tiempos pasados que hoy se venden en copas nuevas. Busco y en ella encuentro la voz genuina e original de las canciones y versos de amor cantados por todos los trovadores de ayer y de hoy. En la red electrónica encuentro comentarios muy emocionales que pones casi al borde de llanto y me llenan de vergüenza ajena por no considerarlas antes.

Se que no estoy solo en estas experiencias. Me sorprende verme añorando cosas que son muy, pero muy ajenas en lo que ha música y comidas se refiere. Por ejemplo a Barbarito Diez lo oía porque lo oponían en otra radio. Al duo Los Compadres los detestaba porque eran ellos lo que me despertaban a sones de retreta de campaña en la unidad militar con su- “Levantate cubano que esto y lo otro” cuando tenia 16 años y sentía después de dormir un sueño viejo que no se apartaba de mi juventud.

Photo: Aaron Escobar

De la cocina cubana jamas comí el quimbombo, porque en mi mente lo asociaba a las descargas nasales de catarro contagioso. Sin embargo hoy lo confecciono en latos deliciosos y lo compro con mucha frecuencia.

Es cierto que el invierno del ano pasado no fue tan frío como el que vendrá, y que la lluvia que me mojo era suave y refrescante. El tiempo en algunos de los casos me cambia sin duda la impresión del pasado. Mi casa en Cuba era grande y fresca, cuando en realidad cuando volví era pequeña y oscura.

El exilio es el enemigo natural de la memoria, te cambia y te transformas en otro. Te conviertes en recuerdos y te fuerza a buscar en las gavetas con moho por algo salvable. Lo cierto es que por asombroso que parezca, hoy extraño en mis oídos la vieja trova de Los Compadres, las composiciones de María Teresa Vera, y el sabor insípido del quimbombo. Y que para bien sea, ya que complejas son mis memorias de casi 30 años.

Photos: Brayan Collazo Alonso
Text Edited by: Julie Schwietert Collazo
[vease abajo para la version en español]

Colombian singer Juanes, along with Puerto Rican singer Olga Tanon and Spanish singer Miguel Bose, organized the Paz Sin Fronteras/Peace Without Borders concert that took place in Havana today.

For Cubans and for people around Latin America, the concert was of profound symbolic importance, regardless of one’s political persuasion.

Brayan Collazo was at the concert, held in Havana’s Revolution Plaza, and sent the following impressions afterward:

“These are my impressions from the concert.
I think that the Cuban public–lacking these types of events–isn’t totally prepared with respect to how they should act at a gathering like this one. Everyone wanted to move toward the stage and to do so, they trampled children and women, which is terrible, very bad. One felt like he was on a boat in bad weather. When I couldn’t move forward, I tried to find a calm area where I could take everything in, but it was impossible. People kept surging forward. But by the end of the concert, there was more calm….

The music, the sound, and the services were all very good.

But what was most memorable was the way everyone was moved by Juanes’s final words, and Juan Formel’s [leader of the Cuban group, Los Van Van] rendition of [the popular Cuban song] “Chan Chan” [which all of the performers and the crowd joined in to sing]. The tremendous expectations of Juanes, Olga Tanon, The Orishas [another Cuban group] and Los Van Van were all fulfilled. In the end, the goal of the concert was achieved… and everyone was crying. Please share these photos and explain what this concert meant to us….”

Havana wasn’t the only city where people were watching the concert with the same sense of emotion, though. People from around Latin America shared the experience on Twitter, making the following observations throughout the hours-long concert:

From @CarolaValdez, from Venezuela:
“Me retiro por un rato, las ganas de llorar me dieron dolorsito de cabeza, pero por la mejor de las causas, emocion pura!!! Dios los bendiga.”/ “I’m going offline for a bit; the desire to cry gave me a headache, but for the best reason- pure emotion. God bless.”

From @rodolfob, from Argentina: “Este es mi primer concierto virtual y es espectacular asistir al mismo, hasta siento el calor de la Plaza de la Revolucion Bravo #Cuba!!”/”This is my first virtual concert & it’s incredible- I even feel the heat in Revolution Plaza. Bravo, Cuba!!”

From e_vk, from Venezuela: “Cantidad de personas en #pazsinfronteras impresionante!”/”The number of people in #pazsinfronteras: impressive!”

**
El cantante colombiano, Juanes, junto con la cantante puertorriqueña, Olga Tañon, y el cantante español Miguel Bosé, organizaron el concierto Paz Sin Fronteras que tuvo lugar hoy en La Habana.

Para los cubanos y el pueblo latinoamericano, el concierto tuvo una importancia profundamente simbolica, a pesar de las opinions politicas de cada persona.

Brayan Collazo estuvo en la Plaza de la Revolución para el concierto y nos envió sus impresiones despues del mismo:

“Esta es mi impresión del concierto….

Creo que el pueblo cubano por la falta de estos eventos no está preparado del todo para recibir con disciplina lo mismo. Argumento esto por lo que pude sufrir en el concierto.
Todos querian ir hacia delante y para lograr esto se atropellaron a niños y mujeres–eso esta mal, muy mal. Parecía que estabas en un barco en mal tiempo. Yo, cuando no pude avanzar mas, trate de acomodarme en un sitio tranquilo pero me fue imposible; como yo muchos se marcharon. Al final de la tarde y del concierto se podía ver una mayor tranquilidad.

La música,el audio,los servicios estuvieron bien.

Una verdad muy grande es que la gente se impresionó con las palabras finales de Juanes y Juan Formel quien cerró el espectáculo a todo lo alto con su orquesta Los Van Van. Las grandes espectativas para el público cubano radicaba en Juanes, Olga Tañon, Orishas y Van Van…. El concierto a la larga logró su objetivo y todos lloraron al final.”

La Habana no era la única ciudad donde la gente veían el concierto con la misma emoción. Las personas de toda americalatina compartieron la experiencia y sus emociones a través de Twitter, haciendo las siguientes observaciones:

De @CarolaValdez, de Venezuela:
“Me retiro por un rato, las ganas de llorar me dieron dolorsito de cabeza, pero por la mejor de las causas, emocion pura!!! Dios los bendiga.”

De @rodolfob de Argentina: “Este es mi primer concierto virtual y es espectacular asistir al mismo, hasta siento el calor de la Plaza de la Revolucion Bravo #Cuba!!”

De e_vk, de Venezuela: “Cantidad de personas en #pazsinfronteras impresionante!”