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16 October, 2012

Typical Gringos

Showing up way too early. Case in point, this last Sunday's Festival de La Hispanidad y El Mestizaje, put on by the Corozal Organization Leading Cultural Heritage and Arts (COLCHA), was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM down at the area around the Corozal Cultural Center and along Miami Beach.
Festival de La Hispanidad y El Mestizaje Poster
If I got things translated correctly (courtesy of Google), this was a festival to celebrate Hispanic culture and mestizaje, which I believe speaks to the mixing of the races more than culture. It wasn't easy to pin down a definitive meaning for that word. Anyway, the weather was great, the boats looked wonderful on the water, people were showing up, there would eventually be lots of food vendors and artists showing their wares, so it would be a good time.
CBSC Boats Ready to Race
David and Elizabeth came by and picked us up at about 10:30. We cruised leisurely down there and parked alongside Miami Beach. This was about 11:00. Suitably late in our book, which just shows how far we still have to go on becoming 'Belizeified', as it were.

Oh sure, there were a few booths and tents set up already, but by and large, most folks were just in the process of arriving with setting up still to come later in the day.
Booths Being Set Up
Scoping Out Jewelry
We never did see a schedule of events (I did hear the next day that the awards for the regatta which took place mostly in the morning, didn't occur till well after dark. Hey, it would have been past our bedtime to stay that late.
Corozal Bay Sailing Club Tent
Corozal Bay Sailing Club (CBSC) was putting on a good show, with a regatta taking place right in front of the crowd, with lots of small sailboats to see.
Part of the Fleet
The Corozal Organization of East Indian Cultural Heritage (COEICH) had an informational tent as well as a major display inside the Corozal Cultural Center.
Corozal East Indian Thing
Inside the Cultural Center, at the center of the building is a beautiful iron circular staircase that goes up to the building's cupola. Here's a shot of it looking almost straight up.
Stairs to Cupola at Cultural Center
The East Indian population here is quite large, and as I understand, they have played a significant role in the development of Corozal.
Dianna Touring the East Indian Display
Here's another view inside the Cultural Center of the East Indian display.
More of the Cultural Center Museum
Display of 'Food Mashers'
We didn't stick around long enough to see the presentations, dancing, and stage displays.
Young Girls Ready to Dance
We got hungry. So, we went to the Romantic Restaurant, below the Mirador Hotel (http://mirador.bz), one of the many Chinese restaurants in Corozal. where we had lunch. After that, we were hot, so we went back to our place and spent the afternoon, you guessed it, in the pool.

Hopefully, the festival continues on each year, getting better and better. For the first time 'out of the chute', to mix my metaphors, it was fun, and we've heard a great success, if only we'd been able to stick it out on into the evening to have gotten the full measure of the event. Maybe next year but, we'll have to take naps first.

2 comments:

JRinSC said...

Hey Dave,

Just curious but is the Cultural Center Bldg the one right by the pier? The one that was so run down several years ago when we were there?

If so looks like they did a great job with it!!

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

Yup, that's the one. I thought the building was going to collapse before they could get it repaired. The really did do a nice job rehabbing it, and the town makes good use of it.

Dianna's even been going there for some craft lessons taught by a young lady who is part of the Japanese equivalent of our Peace Corps.

There's stuff going on there at least weekly.

Cheers,
Dave