To The Beat of the Creole (Al Compas Del Criollismo p. 13)
Conserve the tradition
Always the same suffering
Is the life in the gutter
And to die of starvation
To the beat of the Creole
Old, enclosed, neighborhoods,
Barrios Altos, Chirimoyo;
Limas most Creole,
The most select in Peru.
From your solemn past
And with clear inspiration
You impose a mission
That you give, no longer sell
And can only pretend to
Conserve the tradition.
In the sixteenth century
You drained your purse
Commending the Spanish,
Slave to every viceroy.
Passed the time, it was the law
Forged in your heroism:
Century and a half of civic-mindedness
Your children sing and write,
And fix, how they live,
Always the same suffering.
Poor neighborhoods, always lacking,
Neighborhoods crying out for justice
For the paradox they call
Barrios Altos…barrios “Altos”…
Rise up, get to work,
Look what happens in Ancon
And you will see your inspration
Stained of “whiskey and soda”
While all of your life
Is the life of the gutter.
They are the court of a king
Worse than Philip II,
The world is just a dollar
And exploitation is law.
Enslaving the flock
Hiding in your song.
More if you sing of rebellion
Well, you can –so close-
Becomea Felipe Pinglo Alva
To die of starvation.
Barrios Altos of misery
With a tradition of creating orphans,
Salt of your begging
And show your serious face.
Who gives you the Iberian “gentlemanhood?”
Who gives you imperialism?
Come with me, right now,
And Our Revolution
Builds a new nation
To the beat of the Creole?...
In honor of Peru's fiestas patrias, I have poorly translated another poem de Nicomedes Santa Cruz. A poem of strength in the face of poverty and racism.
This poem puts many ideas into words, thoughts I have thought and embodies many of the reasons why I am so attracted to Salinas and Peru. Both areas are poor and struggle finding a stronghold of mondern ideas of success without losing their tradition. Both provide a community, a flare for life, and a type of person I have not found anywhere else. Hence, my desire to live in both places.
I just returned from a information gathering trip to Salinas...what I learned is that I will be living with a fellow teacher in a 2 bed room apt, and thankfully, he is doing the looking since I still have to coach at the gym for two more weeks, I have an appointment to finalize everything for setting me up to work at Alisal on the 18th of august, and hopefully when I drive up for that appointment, I will also be moving. As for work, my former vice principal, from my first year in AmeriCorps, has been appointed principal at another school in the district has offered me a job in the after school program, and I will be using my connections at FP to get days subbing as well....siento correcto, todos los pedasos de la rompecabaeza estan cayando en su propia lugar.
Random factoid: I ate the 3 best meals of my life while in Salinas, technically I ate them in Chular.
La Cultura Cura
