The Calle 13 Concert

There are so many reasons why I love my life right now.  The sun is shining, there’s a warm breeze blowing, I have 3 half days of school left before Christmas break begins, I live on a beautiful island, I have fantastic friends and a wonderful family, a great job, and there are—as always—travel plans in my future. 
And I got to go to an amazing concert last night.

I sort of decided to go to the Calle 13 concert on a whim, because Jenni, Kelsey, and Kezia were going, and I didn’t want to be stuck at home alone on a Saturday night. 
Excellent choice on my part. 

I didn’t know much about Calle 13 until the past week or so.  I’d heard a few of their songs and liked them, but that was it.  Once I’d purchased my ticket, I started listening to more of their music—and found I liked it.  I also found out that in 2009, the group was banned from performing in Puerto Rico by the then-mayor.  With San Juan under new leadership, they were allowed back for the first time last night.  25,000 people showed up to cheer them on. 

The crowd, as seen from above.
Photo from El Nuevo Dia

It. was. AWESOME. 
In the past, I haven’t been a huge fan of live concerts.  I find myself getting bored, or tired, or overly crowded (and with 25,000 people you’d think that would be a concert).  But that wasn’t the case last night.  I was completely entertained for the entire 2 ½ hours the group performed.  The music was great, the show was fantastic, and surprisingly, it wasn’t overly crowded.  Sure, there were tons of people, but we had room to dance and move along.  And we did dance.  It was a beautiful night, and while my shoes are now covered in mud and I drove home exhausted, the rest of me is no worse for the wear. 

Calle 13’s message was completely empowering too.  Before singing one song, the leader proclaimed, “En Puerto Rico se está viviendo demasiado violencia. Hay odio. Hay que dedicarle prioridad a la educación. Por eso es que pedimos una universidad accesible y gratuita. Si hubiese mejor educación, hubiese menos violencia. Se lo dedico a todas la familias que han perdido a sus familiares por criminales despiadados, a los estudiantes que han muerto por la causa, a lo que acaba de ocurrir en Conneticut, a Carlos Muñiz Varela... Se lo dedico a mi tío, asesinado. No hace falta delfinario, ni estupideces. Faltan profesores preparados, más escuelas.”
(My translation: Puerto Rico is experiencing too much violence.   There is hate.  We need to give priority to education.  Therefore we ask for accessible and free universities.  If there were better education, there would be less violence.  I dedicate this to all of the families who have lost family members to ruthless criminals, to the students who have died for the cause, to what just happened in Connecticut, to Carlos Muñiz Varela…I dedicate it to my uncle, murdered.  …We’re missing qualified teachers and more schools.”) 

You just can’t argue with that.
So…good music, a good message, good friends, and not to mention a singer with a body it did NOT hurt to look at for 2 hours…you’ve got a recipe for a fantastic, unforgettable night.  


My phone died as the concert started, and I didn't
have my camera...so I stole this photo from
Calle 13's facebook page.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambodia: Reflections and Highlights

Image
I was really excited to visit Cambodia for a few days and hit up Angkor Wat and the other temples in the area.  Cambodia felt like my kind of adventure--and I can’t even really say why.  But I was excited.  I was excited for our hotel there--a full-out boutique hotel (not a hostel), with AC, a swimming pool, breakfast included, and airport pick-up for free--which cost us a scant $20 per night.  And we’d read about a lot of great tours we could take with local guides.  Flying in and flying out, this leg of the trip would be a breeze, and hopefully everything would be as cheap as the hotel.   The Mango Rain Boutique Hotel Our flight to Cambodia was unlike any other I’ve ever been on.  There were only about 20 of us on the flight--which would not have been strange, except it was, because we were on a full-size plane that could have seated 200.  The 20 of us were mostly grouped together towards the back of the plane.  Second impressive t...
Read more

DI Globals 2016: A Tale of Two Teams

Image
For the past 3 years, I have acted as a team manager for Destination Imagination at my school in Guatemala, and each year, my team has earned a trip to Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee.  This school year, I was blessed to manage the exact same team I had last year—the Aguaguates, the most wonderful group of kids any DI team manager could wish for.  This group, all 7 th graders this year, has everything needed to not only excel at DI, but also make a team manager’s job almost unnecessary.  They have amazing team chemistry, and they understand the importance of teamwork.  They’re crazy creative and hilarious and amazing actors when they get on stage.  They push themselves to improve their performances.  They know what they need to get done for DI, and they create their own practice schedules.  In short, they are a DI dream team, not to mention really, really great people .  This year though, I took one look at the school calendar and deci...
Read more

Yearly Update: The Journey to 30

Image
Over a year has passed since my last “update.”  And the year I was 29, despite the fact that I lived close to home rather than abroad, was anything but boring, so there’s no real reason for the lack of blog posts.   The year I was 29, I survived what may have been my most difficult year of teaching yet.  Many overseas teachers say, “Teaching in the States is so much different than teaching abroad.  You’ll see.  That’s why I went overseas; I’d never go back to teaching in the States.  It’s just...too much.”  Well, they’re not wrong.  I admit, I thought that with five years teaching experience under my belt, my first year in the US, my first year at the high school level, would go rather smoothly.  While in a sense it did (no concerns about the quality of my work from administration or complaints from parents), it was mentally and emotionally very taxing.  Even this year, my 2nd back in the States, I’m still adjusting to and coming t...
Read more