Musica Typical

On Friday night, Old Providence put on a big show for the island's guests. Mr. Bush, the maritime agent, told all the boats that this was for them and attendance was just about mandatory! It was a great event in the town park near the dinghy dock. Young children in traditional (or as they call it "typical") costumes did some dances and were quite good. Two different groups did different types of dances. The live band was quite a combination of traditional instruments including a "horse jaw" (teeth and all) that was played like a cow bell - but had an interesting rattle from the teeth. There was a washtub bass; a rhythm guitar, a mandolina, maracas and a wood block. The gentlemen in the band also sang and it was quite fun. A really funny song about Matilda spending all a man's money in Venezuela was great. Mr. Willie B, the mandolina player is quite famous in these parts - he even has CDs and was quite good. Michael hunted out some cold brews so we could have something to drink while being entertained. The town set up all these chairs for the "guests" - with Mr. Bush tossing the local kids off the chairs when more gringos showed up! It was great because most of the cruising boats showed up- and there are now about 18 in the harbor. There were also some tourists who are on the island who came and enjoyed the festivities. The last dance number by these eight young girls grabbed some men from the crowd to dance - with Capt. Michael being the first one picked. And we all know how he loves to dance!!!

After about 90 minutes or so of music and dance, they put up a sheet against a building and projected a documentary (in Spanish) about water conservation. It seems that March 22 is El Dia de Agua (Day of water). Then, they showed a bunch of public service announcements about water conservation and then the "Planet Earth" series (all in Spanish). It was an interesting night.

On Monday, we have put together a hike to El Pico - the highest point on the island. We have a guide and it's up to twelve people (gotten a little larger than we anticipated). We'll get an early start and hopefully make it up and back - with some good photos and a few "colorful lizard" sightings.

We'll let you know how it goes. Today (Sunday), we'll snorkel some caves and get laundry done.

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