Here we go again:
- Spanish move in and conquer the indigenous people
- Spanish need to build a wall and a castle, import workers, slaves and free, from Africa and elsewhere
- Africans and other non-European workers and artisans are relegated to a barrio/slum. Because the Spaniards couldn’t pronounce the indigenous language name for the barrio, they named it Gethsemani, sounds-sorta-like the one in Jerusalem
- The fish and produce market in Gethsemani is moved to make room for public parks, Including the Centennial Park, built to commemorate in 1911 Cartagena’s brief period of independence that occurred in 1811. Those living within the walled Old Town didn’t want the riffraff to celebrate with them, so a park outside the walls was created. (Monkeys and sloths live there now, along with lots of birds and flora.)
- With the loss of the market, locals were forced to move out. By the 1990s, Gethsemani had become the most dangerous and crime ridden neighborhood of Cartagena.
- Pressure builds to expand Cartagena beyond the walls of the Old City. The need accelerates when Cartagena is named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984
- Gentrification set in with a vengeance. Today, about 10 years after the gentrification hit its stride, Gethsemani is now one of the safest neighborhoods in Cartagena with lots of hotels, restaurants and artisan shops. Lots of great graffiti art and vibrant colors.
Sounds a lot like the story of District 13 in Medellin, doesn’t it? I guess we need to cheer on elimination of slums and crime but then there’s the fate of previous residents. They move away; they don’t benefit from gentrification. In many cases they are its victims. Art, hip hop and drum programs attempt to give young people a sense of purpose but it’s not an easy solution to a tough problem.
After touring Gethsemani, starting at 9:30 AM we drank, we ate, we drank and ate some more. All before 2:30 PM.
First, a refreshing stop for cold drinks – coconut lemonade in our case – followed by a three course lunch (seafood rice dish and steak) and then five rounds of rum and chocolate tasting. Now we’re back in our hotel “getting pretty” for the sunset cocktail cruise followed by the Farewell Dinner.
Speaking of the hotel, I mentioned yesterday that this building used to be a nunnery and then the city’s charity hospital. Gabriel Garcia Marquez of One Hundred Years of Solitude fame, who lived and wrote in Cartagena, wrote a short novel based on this property. SPOILER ALERT: A young woman is bitten by a rabid dog. She’s brought to the convent for an exorcism, the standard treatment back in the day. A young priest is brought in to drive out the demon, they fall in love and kiss. The priest confesses, is defrocked and sent to a leaper colony. The young woman dies not from rabbis but from the bitter vetches she’s fed by the nuns as part of the exorcism.
Tomorrow, Friday, its off to Sun City Center. Brother Doug and wife Judy come for a week on Sunday, grandson Griffin (11) comes all by himself on the 14th and cousin Steve and wife Carolyn come the day Griffin leaves. Somewhere in there will be two belated birthday parties for Judy, a symphony concert, a University of Florida basketball game up in Gainesville, and visits with Judy’s brother Dave and wife Rolande over in Indian Shores. Other than that we’ll be sitting around the house staring at each other.
Thanks for traveling with us. It’s fun to know family and friends are following along as we go.
P.S.: Judy’s video of our Panama Canal crossing is coming soon. Stay tuned
