Living La Vida Loca : March 2015

Friday 27 March 2015

Latin Camping

A short break in the beautiful Glenrowan/ Wangaratta region, close to wineries, sights, historic towns, cherry orchards, and of course amazing company..
Easter Camping in style , or GLAMPING as we like to call it, with the company of so many diverse, interesting and sociable people.. A gastronome of amazing food , our two resident chefs who always cook up amazing treats, and meals...GREAT COMPANY, a little music around the fireside in the evenings, or a full on SHOW of epic proportions on the main stage each night...

This is our group from 2012, every year our group grows in size as people bring along friends, new acquaintances, or the increase in family numbers. We are a diverse group of friends that just about cover every continent in the world, plus every latin American country that you can think of.
In this group, nearly every couple consists of one Latin american and one "Gringo" and I use this term loosely as we have Chinese, Malaysian, Persian, Hungarian, Polish, Former Yugoslavians, Russians, Japanese, Anglo Aussies, Spaniards, New Zealanders, Italian, Irish and many more....
We are almost the united Nations.!

Narelle & I, ( an Aussie friend with a Persian partner ) , came up the weekend before the big event to erect out tents, gazebos , put up the indigenous Bolivian flag, and mark out our camping spots. There were almost 60 of us including children this year, and we had to make sure that all available space was utilized, so that we could all fit into our designated location.

This is Hwa, cooking up some tasty afternoon snacks

Yes... there were even Zumba classes for all to enjoy on the Friday afternoon.

Taking a walk on one of the lower levels of the camp site, visiting freinds and generally having a sticky beak

The kids lining up for some lunch ..we got them out of the way, so the "grown Ups" could enjoy some spicy treats from the many cooks providing sustenance .

Friends from around the world.: Malaysia. Taiwan and Australia

Watching the billy boil

Getting cute with some Mustaches

Watching Miguel cook "asado" , hoping for a leftover or two!

And most importantly the map to get you there..

latin american camping abancay. and a website

and a facebook page : LatinAmericanCampingAbancay

Oh and did I mention that there are live bands, Latin American of course, everything from Criolla music, Andean, Folk, Cumbia, plus Folk dancing, displays from various Latin American folk dancing groups, a latin american food canteen for those of you who don't like to cook, Hot running showers, super clean toilets, and the chance to make friends from all over the world.

Other things to note, this is a private property, not a money making concern, but a community event that has been running now for over 30 years.There is a small fee to cover the cleaning of the property after 3000 people have camped , water that is trucked in for the showers and bathrooms, musicians, PA etc. but compared to camping anywhere else this is a REAL BARGAIN!

If you are interested in coming along, message me via the page below or facebook ...
You can also call Ada & freddy Gassar, whose property it is if you are interested in Attending this coming Easter weekend. You need to make a booking, you cannot just turn up.

You can expect to see people wearing their national costume from Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, and all the different regions within these countries.

Karen. Mick, and Trish

Jesus and Cesar enjoying some lunch

Jael, doing some traditional Bolivian folk dancing with Some Live music on stage.

So if you have nothing to o over Easter and want to do something a little different, have a love for latin Culture, latin Music ( which is sometimes quite loud! ) Latin food, friendship, meeting new freinds, and seeing old ones as well, and fun.. this is the place to be.

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Geelong Diversitat Pako festival 2015

Pako festival is held every year in March. I've been attending now for almost 15 years in the capacity of "Band manager" . It's the grass roots Multicultural festival that makes everyone a participant . Over 150 different nationalities take part in this event, and Inka Marka have been proudly representing the Latin American community in Geelong at this festival over this time.

Each year we head on down to Geelong , a satellite city of Melbourne located about an hours drive away, located also on Port Phillip Bay.We all leave home at the crack of dawn to set up our staging area with all of the market and stall holders.

As well as being a day to experience a multitude of colour and costumes, it is also a day to experience music and dance of many nations.

Food stalls line the Main Street, with just about everything you could imagine as edible available. To our right is located the Polish "White eagle club". I am from Polish decent so the familiar and comforting smells of Bigos & Pirogi are tempting me to head over and make a start at will turn into a food feast that day.

The day starts well and as always it's a bright sunny day, with the sun burning down to redden the faces of those of us who have forgotten to apply sunscreen, ( yet again ! ) By mid morning I will have to make a quick trip to the pharmacy to purchase factor 30, so that I am not completely fried to a crisp.
Jose and Michel just slowly toast to a pale caramel color, much to Karen's and my distress.

This year Karen has come along to help out. Full time friend and partime band member, she has been performing with the band for almost a year now . The guys are always happy to have her along, as she is a happy go lucky person, with some amazing talent on the violin.

The Inka's played throughout the day, starting off with an early set before the parade. A crowd soon gathered, and there were a couple doing a slow dance to the romantic tune Besame much which they had requested the guys to play.As the day wore on, and warmed up-, the guys went from a warm Poncho to a cooler vest, but still keeping the Ethnic Inka Tradition going strong with their costumes.

As the day wore on, the weather improved and the mood of the festival was light and fun. Many people stopped by to say hello, and let the guys how much they enjoyed the music.

Our favorite was the mexican dance group, who I was lucky enough to catch a few photos of.

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Ventana Latina : First Solo exhibition for Jesus Moreta in Australia

VENTANA LATINA

Ok so I am shamelessly promoting my best friend's Husbands Art. What's wrong with that I ask? He's talented, has an interesting take on how he sees the world, and is amazingly prolific and has great technique. Jesus' use of bright color, everyday subject matter and stylistic portrayal of his topics, makes his work attractive to all.

After 10 year of working tirelessly at his art since arriving in Australia, he has finally realised his first exhibition called "Conexion"

Feb 27th till March 28th 2015

After ten years of working full time on his art, , Ecuadrean artist Jesus Moreta, finally has his first Solo exhibition at Ventana Latina.

Ventana Latina is a month long celebration of all things latin held annually at the Frankston Art centre .

Frankston's boutique cultural festival, Ventana is now in its ninth year. This annual celebration of Latin American, Portuguese and Spanish cultures, along with people and stories, aims to provide intimate and authentic experiences through dance, music, food, art, crafts, film, poetry, language, sports and educational workshops.

The Ventana Fiesta takes place in the Frankston Arts Centre, the Frankston and Carrum Downs Libraries, Frankston’s Waterfront, White Street Mall, Wells Street and Wells Street Plaza during February and March.

Saturday 14 March Ventana Street Fiesta 2015

A day of culture, colours, flavours, dance, music, rhythms, passion, craft, activities and workshops for the whole family.

You don’t need to leave Frankston to experience the vibrant world of Latin America, Portugal and Spain.