Fiesta: The taste of New Orleans

    

I’ve been in San Antonio five long years and yet I’d never experienced the famous Fiesta. To my knowledge the event would be a two week celebration of the Hispanic culture and its many fascinating aspects, from senoritas in brightly colored skirts twirling about in native dance to piñatas, sangria and Mexican cuisine. I looked forward to immersing myself in another culture.  Last night I finally went to one of the many events held during Fiesta and I was surprised to find it was a celebration of New Orleans or Creole culture which is fact a Hispanic subculture with the Creole language being hybrid of the French and Spanish language.

   

I was delighted to discover the parallels of the two worlds. I found it spoke to beauty of the American experience being that we’re all pretty much mixed up mutts. Specifically it was a stark reminder of the black influence. Modern man’s interpretation of history would have one believe that all recent descendants of African only left the continent as slaves when in fact the black race has had an impact on civilization far and wide. From the fictional conquistadores Calafia, who lead armies of war harden men into battle, used fabled griffins to drop boulders on her enemies, and is the only black women to have a state named after her (California) to the Spanish inquisition where anyone with eyes could see the dark skin of many of the men executed.
    

Only Fiesta does not seek to dwell on the woes of the past. The night held such new experiences as trying alligator. (I’ve always wanted to eat a predator) Along with the new I got to experience a bit of nostalgia as I bore witness to live performances of my mom’s favorite dustys. (This means old school R&B.) I got in a little of the Chicago two step to a live performance of the Stylistics ‘You make me feel brand new.’ All in all it was a good night and I high recommend anyone coming to San Antonio to come during Fiesta.

Alligator on  stick