At Villa de Leyva


Change in some places, as with some people, just passes by


La fuente Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia
The fountain          Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia

Villa de Leyva, was then, as now a small town, with beautiful houses and cobbled streets, brings back the old colonial times. This small city is just thirty-seven kilometers away from Tunja, the Capital of the Boyaca Department. It hardly changed in those times back in the days of Angelica’s childhood, and today, it still remains unaffected by the passage of the years.

The strong winds that prevail during the month of August are, in effect, the motors that lightly impulse the cheerful, many-coloured comets kites. Year after year, the soaring up in their gentle flight to the lapis Lazuli skies of Villa de Leyva and its surroundings.

El Quiosco Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia
The bandstand           Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia

In those long gone-by days of Angelica infancy, the comets had not yet flown to compete, nor did they try to win prizes and stand-out. Rather the boys and girls would gather outside, momentarily filling up the parks and the plazas with the fragile kites to enjoy watching as they lifted in flight, until they reached the heights of the vast skies of Boyacá.

Without any doubt, it is a marvelous thing, that capacity to take a bit of paper, some frail pieces of wood, and string and with these apparently so commonplace and delicate components, transform an ordinary afternoon… it to a fresh, new space, filled to the brim with renewed delight and sense of adventure.

El carrito Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia
The cart           Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia

Also, it is equally interesting to observe how with such a simple trick, ladies and men, usually so serious and proper, turn into boy and girls, who laugh and shout, running around without restraint from here to there and back.

Effectively, if for only the briefest instant in time, once more they collectively live the moment, without worries or sorrows, totally engrossed and fascinated, as their life is held by a string held closely in their hands and their hopes faintly suspended in the air, fully relishing the wonderful art of living.

El teatro Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia
The theatre          Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia

 

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   ©  All photos by edudelcorral


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