La Guagua by Juan Luis Guerra

¡Hola otra vez! ¡Volví!

I was thinking it would be interesting this time to discuss transportation. Transportation in Latin America and Spain. This is a topic students know very little about, because in the USA if you are not in a big city you don't experience public transportation.

I always begin by showing my students pictures of people using the subway (El metro), buses, or taxis. People of all ages, people going to school, or to work.

 I tell them how in cities, small and big, buses are taking people to places all day, every day. There is no schedule in many countries you don't have to wait until a certain time, just get out of your house, walk to the nearest avenue or bus stop and hold your arm out to signal you want to get on board the specific oncoming bus, or taxi you need.

That is the way millions of people all over the world move around every day. Young people going to school, old people going to the market, people going to the movies, the airport, etc. Millions of people in these countries don't have cars, they don't need them.

"El metro" is a very useful way of transportation in big cities, one of the oldest is the Madrid metro. "El metro de Madrid". It is the sixth longest metro in the world with more than 300 stations. It was opened in 1919. Many of the 12 million madrileños depend on el metro to move in the city's greater area. 

Lots of tourists travel the city using el metro. It is fun, secure, clean, dependable, and a very important part of Madrid's culture. I had the opportunity to use it when I was in Madrid. I loved it!  

In the rural areas or very small towns it is a little different. People move using bikes, motorcycles, horses, or walking. People in Latin America and Spain walk a lot. Sometimes the buses don't service small cities but rather connect them to other cities or the capital of the state.

Some of these rural buses are very peculiar. People take things they sell in other towns with them in the buses. Big boxes with fruits, vegetables, food items of all sorts, milk, huge sacks of coffee, beans, corn, etc. Bananas, chickens, you will see it all.

In Colombia we have the traditional "Chiva" a door-less bus that has been a permanent staple of rural areas of Colombia allowing people to go from their farms to the town, or from town to town to sell their products.

All of these forms of transportation are vital to the functioning of those areas and are very important to the people. The people of the town have great appreciation for their buses, they use them every day. They also reveal elements of their culture. Some of them are colorful, simple, practical. Sometimes they are very decorated, play loud music, etc. 

In Madrid el metro is very helpful, and organized, color-coded, accessible. In some other cases the transportation is not that advanced. There are some cases in which there are very old buses in not so wealthy cities in many Latin American areas. But nevertheless public transportation is a very important part of Hispanic life.

To illustrate more the topic, I chose Juan Luis Guerra's La guagua that with lots of images, and much sabor shows the importance of the bus for many Latin Americans.

El maestro Juan Luis Guerra is one of my favorite artists, and the rhythms of Dominican Republic in particular and the Hispanic Caribbean in general are at the heart of this style.
In this song he chose guaracha. A traditionally Cuban rhythm that is very catchy and popular among Latinos of all ages.

La guagua Lyrics

La guagua Video

Espero que la disfruten.

Hasta luego.

"¡Gracias a la vida!" by Mercedes Sosa

La Nueva Canción...

¡Hola!

¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!

This time I want to tell you about "La nueva canción".

 

 First... A little history!

At the end of the '60's and the beginning of the '70's in Latin America, many  political changes were taking place.

Several countries had suffered or were suffering dictatorships. Military regimes had been ruling these countries and were suppressing individual freedoms and rights. 

That was the case in Argentina where a new musical movement was created which reflected the feelings of the people. El manifiesto de Mendoza en 1963 para el "Nuevo Cancionero Latinoamericano" started "La nueva canción". A famous Chilean singer, Mercedes Sosa, was part of this movement.

It was initially a musical movement interested in portraying the traditional rhythms and melodies of their folkloric treasures in contrast to the more commercial styles. It expressed a lot of nationalism--feeling proud of one's own musical and literary expressions instead of adopting those coming from the outside (mainly Europe and the US).

Quickly it started expressing social issues of the time as well. It gave people a way of expressing themselves through poetry and music, when expressing themselves directly was not an option.

Very difficult times for the common people existed  in several Latin American countries because of the oppressive  military regimes. Anybody who dared to speak out against the government was accused of conspiring against it and was subject to government terrorism "Terrorismo de estado". Human rights violations were rampant. Many people were being threatened, kidnapped, tortured, incarcerated and/or killed while many simply "went missing." Many families were affected and many people are still unaccounted for to this day in spite of extensive efforts of their families and human right organizations to determine their fate.

As the more brutal regimes fell from power, new democratic governments have replaced them. It has been an imperfect process in many places but certainly an on-going one. The scars of those years though, are still real for many. One of the victims of the dictatorship in Chile was Ex-president Michelle Bachelet. Her father was assassinated  by the Pinochet regime while she and her mother were tortured and exiled. They lived in France where she became a physician, later returning to Chile to become the first woman president.

"La nueva canción" gave birth to "La canción social" or "La música protesta". It became very popular in Latin America. It is still today a way of addressing issues of injustice, oppression, inequality, and the rejection of commercial interests in music, and as well as in society in general.

This song was written by the Chilean poet Violeta Parra, a musician and writer who played a major part in the same "Nueva canción" movement, this time in Chile. When sung by Mercedes Sosa, it became a hymn of the times, and one of the most well-known songs in Latin American music. It has been sung by many artists all around the world, including the American Joan Baez, and more recently  the Canadian Michael Bublé in his efforts to support "La Teletón" which raised funds for the people affected by the 2010 Earthquake in Chile.

"Gracias a la vida" is a testament to those difficult times in the history of these countries, but it is also an ever-present "Thanksgiving" song. It talks about being thankful for things that most people take for granted, but that during hard times are most appreciated.

Here the lyrics and the video of one of Mercedes' shows on TV.

http://goo.gl/mR6RQ

 

http://goo.gl/Q7xXl

¡FELIZ DÍA DE ACCIÓN DE GRACIAS! y hasta la próxima.