Who could have thought 11 years ago that today I would be sitting in front of a computer describing the moments and places that made me live music?
I said that I was going to talk to you about different contests and festivals, but when I remember the beginnings of this musical journey that I still am in, I feel nostalgic and I think it is necessary to write a little more about them.
As a child I remember playing clarinet all the time and participating in different regional and national competitions with the bands of the municipalities of Darién and Restrepo. This is the only time I will talk about everyone in general, besides presenting some random photographs because I do not remember many details.
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| Opening parade |
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| Private presentation |
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| Official parade |
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| Presentation on stage |
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As you can see in the images, we were all very small and enjoyed each outing to the fullest. The trip was by bus to any part and normally we left Restrepo or Darién at 3 or 4 in the morning. When we arrived at the place where the contest was held, the whole community welcomed us with open arms and there was always an opening parade, and then we moved to the place where we were going to stay. Many times schools were used to host the members of the bands, other times we stayed at the hotel and how we could not avoid it even in a rather terrifying convent. We slept in rooms between parents and children or all in a classroom on mats. Today I laugh at all this, they say that to remember is to live and at this moment I feel myself traveling through each of these places.
The community of each of the places actively participated in these festivals, each band had a group of people assigned to accompany them in parades, festivals, private presentations and on stage. In addition, there was always a guide who accompanied us everywhere. The food was in the living room of the houses and I do not remember bad times, there we ate for 3 days at breakfast, lunch and dinner, the food was usually characteristic of the region and people were always happy with our presence. I remember that once, at the last dinner before traveling back, the lady of the house took us mariachis as a token of gratitude for the visit.
In this way I visited places in Colombia such as Villamaría, Chinchiná, Neira, El Giro and Riosucio in the department of Caldas, I made trips through the coffee axis like Armenia, Salento and Filandia, went to la Vega in Cundinamarca, to Paipa in Boyacá, to San Pedro, Cartago, Buga, Cali, Tuluá, Versalles, Bolivar, Pradera, Yotoco, La Victoria, Obando and Alcalá in Valle del Cauca and other places. In the next posts I'm going to talk about some of these experiences that I remember and excuse my memory of chick.
Do not forget that Carl Sagan said: "we are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever"
