[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiIKvVSfnPY]

Carnival season started last weekend with a cumbia street festival. Cumbia is a type of music, and dance, that is very common here in Colombia. The idea behind the dance is seduction (from what I’ve seen). Cumbia, like every other dance here, is alllllll in the hips. I had to practice for weeks to not move my shoulders when I move my hips. I still think there should be a way of combining the two, but they tell me otherwise.

The carnival here in Barrnaquilla is known as the second largest in the world. It started last weekend (Jan 23rd) and ends on March 9th. That is a lot of partying. I’ll keep posting events as I go to them.

Staring at the moon from a hammock in a tree

Feel the breeze

Loving the shade from the leaves when I wake up

Write something to a beat

Inspiration makes the whole world freeze

No longer counting the days

I watch the sun fall asleep to the sound of the waves

A cloud shifts shape, my mind adapts

To make something out of nothing is how I find my raps

A week passes in a minute on the beach

So I watch time fly while I’m playing in the quick sand

The hotter the girls the harder to leave

And by the looks of it I’ll be here until I get tan

So kick back to this jam

As drum beats guide the hips of women

Costeños don’t need much to have fun

Just clean air and enough Aguila to swim in

Julain is a musician, producer, professor of sound at the university I work for, the owner of a bar called LIVE, and my spanish teacher. He plays in a band called La Margarita, with Karen and Camilo. His family has taken me in, metaphorically, since I’ve been here. I take beach trips and play soccer with his brothers; I listen to his fathers words of wisdom- who was just awarded as the best journalist in Colombia- even though I don’t understand what he is saying; and his mother is sweet and likes to make fun of me.  Julian runs a studio out of his house which is very nice, mainly producing audio for TV and movies, but also recording bands and the radio project I work for.

We have began recording music together, and will have a collection of songs soon. They will be sample free feel good hip hop music fused with the music from the coast, featuring a number of the musicians in his combo and of course Matt B.

Check out Julian’s music here: http://www.reverbnation.com/juliansarmientof

I’ve been here for a little more than a month now. I’ve learned enough spanish to explain to people what I’m trying to say, however, after I talk I realize how stupid I sound. People in Barranquilla are known for talking very fast and using a lot of slang, so while I hang out with people that speak spanish all the time, I understand very little. I kind of like this though because it allows me to focus on other things and I find myself exploring my surroundings a good amount, until someone slaps me out of my own world to bring me into conversation.

This last week I partied like a pirate

and went to a crazy techno/reggae/hip hop show in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Barranquilla. The host of the event was a guy I met when I performed on the TV show two weeks ago.

In between acts he got on stage and told everyone to welcome me to Colombia… I danced in all my gringo glory. I took a cab home from the show at 3am and got a good look at an area I had no buisness being in. The cab driver went about 80 through dowtown, running every red light we came up on. I figured my chances of being killed were higher if we went the speed limit and stopped at the lights, so I said nothing.

Video from the Systema Solar show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10eH3A6JjTE&nofeather=True

Is this place real? I feel like I’m going to be the president of Colombia in a few months if things keep going like they are. Please don’t mistake that thought as me flexing my ego, becaue I have no idea how these things happen to me. I am becoming more certain with each day that someone is watching over me, guiding me in the direction I am moving. If not, I’m one lucky sum-um-a-beach.

Quote from the book I’m reading…

“-How would you ever come to know God’s name for that star?

-You wouldn’t, He holds it close, the boy said. It’s a thing you’ll never know. It’s a lesson that sometimes we’re meant to settle for ignorance. Right there’s what mostly comes of knowledge, the boy said.”

PEACE! -Mic

We went out to the mountains between Baranquilla and Cartagena this weekend, El Morro, to celebrate Julian’s birthday. He has an amazing house on a mountain that overlooks the ocean. We went with about 15 musicians and his family, set up a PA system and went back and forth between playing live music and dancing all night. One of his friends must have liked cooking because every two hours he would serve another course of food, all the way until 6 am. It was too dark to get video of anything, and I was having too much fun to stop and document, but I did get a few audio recordings of our jams. My weapon of choice- the maraca.

We woke up the next day and explored the mountain, tried to walk down to the beach but stopped to play in the rain when it started coming down hard. The rain didn’t stop for a few hours so we decided to spend one more night on the mountain. We played jinga and laughed at things that weren’t funny all night. The next morning we walked to a main road and caught a bus back into town.

Today is Thanksgiving, and while I’m a little sad I can’t eat with my family, lay around and watch football, and then go drink whiskey on Shane’s porch, I’m thankful for the opportunity I have to be here.

PEACE! -Mic

The narrow streets of Cartagena were filled with thousands of people this Friday for the celebration of its independence. I have been the only white boy in a number of situations in my life, but this one took the cake. I wasn’t allowed to bring my camera out into the madness, so let me paint a picture for you.

It’s raining, pretty damn hard, off and on all night. Half of the people are carrying foam guns, the other half buckets of blue paint. These people show no hesitation in covering anyone they pass, especially me. Every five minutes someone throws a handful of firecrackers into the crowd. At one point of the night, I tried to enter a building to use the bathroom, and while in route to the building walked directly into a landmine of fireworks. I covered my head, closed my eyes, and tried my best to keep my feet off the ground. When I heard the cracks stop I picked my head up and had one of those “remember for the rest of your life” visuals. Through the clearing smoke hundreds of people started jumping up and down and cheering, throwing whatever they had into the air: Literally and figuratively letting go. I might not have jumped as high, but I joined right in.

The house I was staying at was three blocks away from the building the national beauty pageant was held in. The locals I was staying with, musicians and film producers, told me I would have more fun in the streets than sitting in the ballroom. I’m glad I listened to them. By 9 pm on Friday I was covered in foam, my face was blue, I had salsa danced outside of the police station, and already jumped in numerous freestyle cipher sessions.

I spent the next day relaxing, reading, and walking around this absolutely beautiful city. You can check out the pictures I took on fb:

I don’t even know where to start. This place is beautiful. The people are so friendly, the food is amazing, and the juice is even better. It hasn’t been all fun and games since I’ve been here though. We have worked around 15 hour days this week to meet a deadline yesterday, so now I have some time to breathe. “Work is not even really work it’s play, when words seem to work in a perfect way.” I’m working in a studio with musicians that are my age and really cool. So far we have created two radio programs, including around 7 songs that I wrote or helped write. I play a 14 year old boy and a parrot haaa. It’s really crazy because they all think I can sing, and ask me to do so quite often. My vocals and Spanish are slowly getting better.

This morning I moved into a house with a very nice family that doesn’t speak any English. I pay 300 USD a month and get three meals a day and laundry (I’m not exactly roughing it haa). This morning when I finished packing they sat me down at the table, gave me lunch, and watched me while I ate, smiling and refilling my drink every time I took a sip. They are really sweet people.

I already have a really cool group of friends that are very talented and extremely nice. Last night the singer in the band that I’m working with, Keren, and I sat outside and talked for over an hour… well mostly laughing at how we couldn’t understand each other. Julian, the guitar player and producer in the band, and I have already started writing music together. We have a lot of things in common and I can’t wait to hear what our music sounds like. I also met a really beautiful, smart, and sweet girl… so much to look forward to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oR524Fht5s

Our first song together starts like this:

We sleep under the same constellations

We reach for those same stars

We can’t speak but have a conversation

Life’s a song and we’re playing the same cords

PEACE! -Mic