“Julia” Watercolor and blue ink on 300lb paper

LAS PALENQUERAS

This is Julia, who posed for this picture after quickly carving up two giant bowls of fruit salad which I had unknowlingly ordered. She is known as one of the Palenqueras, and they sell frutas and pose for tourists with their brightly colored dresses and bowls of fruit balancing on their heads.

The Palenqueras came way before Carmen Miranda. They are from San Basilio de Palenque, which is a town about 50 Kms to the southeast of Cartagena. It was a town formed and administered by runaway slaves, and in 1691 they signed a royal decree that stated the town’s independence from Spanish colonial rule, thus becoming the first free town in the Americas.

That seems a worthy thing to remember, and their colorful presence ensures that we don’t forget.

LA HEROICA

La Heroica is the nickname for Cartgena. In 1815 they declared their Independence from Spain, and soon after endured a 105 day siege of the City by the Spanish forces. Many starved rather than surrendering. Spain did retake the City, but the effort has been memorialized by the Nickname.

I remembering marveling at the splendor of Madrid when I was there last summer. And then I read some of the history of Colombia, and realized that much of that splendor was robbed during the 400 year stranglehold that Spain had on much of South America.