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: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Photo: Francisco Collazo
*
I’m still organizing photos from 2008.
It’s an enormous task.

I came across this one today and just couldn’t stop staring at it or thinking about it. The boys of Mompox.

“Will you forget us like everyone else?” they asked us before we left.

How could we ever?

Text, Photos, & Video: Francisco Collazo
Translation: Julie Schwietert Collazo
[vease abajo para la version en espanol]
**

I saw them crossing the river with my own eyes. No one stopped them.

In fact, they crossed two rivers en masse: the Hudson and the East Rivers. They came from everywhere– the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and even New Jersey– to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day in New York. Some were wearing traditional clothing and hats; others carried flags or red, white, and green striped ribbons, the colors of the Mexican flag. There were the churro sellers and the flag and hat vendors. In the background, a mix of ranchera and other types of popular Mexican music are playing and shouts of “Viva Mexico!” resound. It’s an important day for those gathered here: it’s the first official parade celebrating Mexican Independence Day in New York!

The border isn’t Tijuana anymore, but the Barrio, where the greatest concentration of Mexicans can be found in the city. Their presence is easy to see. Businesses carry typical names like “Mi Pueblana,” “La Lupita,” or just post a sign that says “Mexican products sold here.” The Mexican population has grown here in recent years, and they’re the third largest immigrant group in New York after the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. They work in every neighborhood, doing all types of jobs: restaurant work, construction, cleaning, child care, truck drivers, to name just a few.

This year, they marched for the first time along Madison Avenue to celebrate their home country’s 199th year of independence. Although it wasn’t very well publicized, the event was well organized and the presence of Mexican Americans was impressive.

According to its organizers, the goal was to parade down the 5th Avenue like other immigrant groups do. For them, it’s a sign of recognition and an assertion that they’re here to stay. Long live Mexico!

**

Los vi cruzar el río con mis propios ojos sin que nadie los detuvieran. De hecho cruzaron los dos ríos en masa: El Hudson y el Río del Este.

Llegaban de todas partes– Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island y hasta de Nueva Jersey– para festejar el día de la independencia de México en la ciudad de Nueva York, algunos con sus trajes típicos y sombreros, otros con banderas y llevando cintas con colores patrios.

Se ven los vendedores de churros, banderas y sombreros.

En el trasfondo una mezcla de música ranchera y de todo tipo que salen a grito desde las gargantas abiertas de los altoparlantes. Gritos de Viva México! se escucha por todas parte. Es un día muy importante para ellos; es su primer desfile en la ciudad de Nueva York!

El borde no es Tijuana, sino El Barrio. Aquí se encuentra la mayor concentración de mexicanos y se nota con claridad su presencia. Los negocios llevan por nombre “Mi Pueblana,”“La Lupita,” o simplemente le agregan un cartel que anuncia:“Se Vende Productos Mexicanos.” La populación de inmigrantes mexicanos en Nueva York ha crecido en los últimos años.

Es la tercera después de los dominicanos y puertorriqueños. Y ya se hacen notar.

Es muy común verlos en cualquier barrio de la ciudad trabajando en todo tipo de áreas, restaurantes, construcciones, limpieza, cuido de niños y choferes de camiones de entrega, para mencionar solo los mas significantes empleos que estos nuevos inmigrantes ocupan.

Este año marcharon por primera vez la Avenida Madison de esta ciudad. Aunque no muy concurrido aun, estuvo bien organizado y se pudo ver la presencia en masa de los residentes de origen mexicano.

Según sus organizadores sus metas son desfilar por la 5ta. Avenida de Nueva York, como lo hacen los otros grupos de inmigrantes. Es para ellos un signo de reconocimiento y dejan saber que aquí están para quedarse.

Que viva México!

Text, Photos, and Video: Francisco Collazo
Translation: Julie Schwietert Collazo
[vease abajo para la version en espanol]
**

I’d never heard of of this virgin or her story… not that I’m an expert on the subject, but living in different parts of Latin America, you get to know about many of the virgins, and never having heard of this one raised my curiosity.

It happened in my neighborhood around 10 AM on a Sunday. The music and chanting accompanying the band of drums and trumpets could be heard throughout the area, like a beat in one’s own spinal cord. The band gathered people of all ages and both sexes as it passed. Sleepy faces peered from windows to watch them pass, some curious and others, perhaps, angry because they were trying to sleep off last night’s drunkenness. Car alarms made their own loud chorus, which in turn caused the neighborhood dogs to bark in unison. This all occurred in the borough of Queens, New York, this light hearted spirit that you don’t often find in North America, but rather closer to the equator, where traditions and languages are centuries old and highly regional.

Today is the celebration of the Virgin of the Clouds. The Ecuadorean community living here has brought not only its traditions and languages along with it, but also its religious practices and its own brand of Catholicism.

According to the story of the origin of this virgin, the Virgin of the Clouds appeared to a sick monk in Quito, Ecuador in 1696. The monk recognized the virgin among the clouds and her presence cured him, according to witnesses. Since then, the apparition of the Virgin of the Clouds has been celebrated not just in Ecuador, but also in Peru since 1800.

Today is a special day. There’s food and music, and everyone’s dressed for the occasion, the little boys in jackets and ties, the little girls in long dresses and bows. There’s traditional garb for the adults, and people impersonating cowboys and farmers from the Ecuadorean mountains. I’m told that it’s such an important celebration that a priest has even been flown in from Otavalo, Ecuador to preside over the event and its special Mass.

The day that started out so sunny starts to turn cloudy, hinting at rain, as if in response to please and prayers, but the celebration has been a success. Candy is thrown in the air and everyone–children and adults–scramble to grab a piece, their faces happy and satisfied. It’s been a special day and for me, an unforgettable experience. I learned something I hadn’t known before, and from now on I’ll be looking up at the clouds.
**

Realmente no tenia conocimiento de la existencia de esta virgen ni de su historia. No es que sea un conocedor de este sujeto, pero el hecho de haber vivido alrededor de ellas en la América Latina me despertó cierta curiosidad la existencia de una desconocida para mi.

Todo sucedió un día Domingo en mi vecindad a las 10 AM. La música y los coros que acompañan la banda de bombos, trompetas y platillos se hacen sentir por todo el vecindario, como calambre en la espina vertebral. La banda al pasar arrastra con ella una multitud de gente de todas las edades y ambos sexos. Por las ventanas se asoman cabezas soñolientas a verlas pasar, unos curiosos y quizás otros enojados porque no han podido dormir la borrachera de la noche anterior. Las alarmas anti-robos de los autos se unan al coro bullicio, excitando a los perros dejados en los patios que ladran y harbullen al paso de esta. Todo esto le daba al condado de Queens, Nueva York ese leve sabor y aire de que este no se encontraba en la América del Norte, sino mas abajo de la linea ecuatoriana donde las costumbres y lenguas son milenarias y de la región.

Hoy se celebra a La Virgen de la Nubes, aquí en la tierra. La colonia ecuatoriana que aquí reside ha traído con ella o solo sus lenguas y sus costumbres, sino también sus practicas religiosas y su versión del catolicismo.

Según va la historia del origen de esta virgen, esta le apareció a un fraile enfermo en la ciudad de Quito, Ecuador donde el residió en 1660. Este reconoció a la virgen entre las nubes y su presencia lo curó según los testigos del lugar. Desde entonces esta aparición se celebra no solo en Ecuador, sino también en Perú desde el 1800, que ha encontrado devotos a ella.

Hoy es un día especial, muy especial. Hay comida y música; todos se visten de gala, los niños con su chaquetas y corbatas, las niñas con sus trajes largos y sus lazos. Hay trajes típicos y gente impersonalizando los vaqueros y agricultores de las sierras ecuatorianas. Y hasta han volado a un sacerdote directo de Otavalo, Ecuador para hacer de esta celebración la mas especial de todas-según me dijeron.

El día que comenzó muy soleado ahora se torna nublado y se anuncia lluvia, como en respuesta a los rezos y plegarias, pero la fiesta ha sido un éxito. Se tiran al aire dulces para los allí presentes, niños y mayores se pelean por agarrarlos, las caras se ven alegres y satisfechas. Ha sido un día muy productivo después de todo y me dejo una experiencia inolvidable, pero lo mas importante es que aprendí algo que no sabia y desde ahora en lo adelante estaré buscando entre nubes.

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!”