LOS CARROZAS
SPANISH CHRISTMAS RONDA

Afraid of being late, because the vans had no GPS and we might get lost on the way, we arrived too early at Abiquiu, so we dedicated some time to visit the pueblo, walked along the streets, and visited an antiquities store. At the main square of Abiquiu, with the church of Saint Thomas in the background. Much to our surprise, a Spanish thresh was offered for 1,800 US$ amongst the antiquities . Isabel Trujillo, director of the Pueblo de Abiquiu Library and Cultural Center and very active woman with her local community, had organized the logistics of the event, including a dinner with delicious local gastronomy. We repeated the morning program: the talk of Enrique... ...and the Christmas carols, duly explained by Edmundo and translated by Natalia. The most impacting instrument for the public in all performances was the zambomba. Traditional clothing also caused a sensation. The subsequent visit to Saint Thomas Apostle church of Abiquiu was...

Posing for the picture at our first venue of the New Mexico tour. Poster for the event. We have tested it empirically: Santa Fe is "cold as hell"! Even if it does not seem like it from the sunny pictures below, that night the temperatures had gone down to -9ºC. The freezingd morning air hitting our face as we came out of the rooms was an experience to remember. But, hey, that's what happens when, at the end of autumn, you are at 2125 meters and under continental climate: cold, cold, and dry, dry. The leather of zambombas and panderos was so tight and tense during the whole week that we feared any of them might break at any time! Below freezing, we begun to load our instruments into the vans. Once arrived at the senior center, downloading the musical instruments from the vans. Albert Chávez was kindly waiting for us at the Mary Esther Gonzáles Senior Center of Santa Fé . He had been organizing the event and setting up the logistics. This was ...

After a long and tiring trip, the Ronda Los Carrozas from Cifuentes (Guadalajara, Spain) arrived at Albuquerque airport (Sunport) late at night on Sunday 15th of December. Early next morning, we were already packing luggage and instruments towards our first destinations in northern New Mexico. The two large, 15-seats vans we rented from Enterprise were crucial for the tour. The vans were big enough to each fit 8 singers with their luggage and instruments. Every upload meant some spatial analysis to fit it all... As mentioned in previous entries to this blog, the zambombas required special care and affection. We depend on them for our traditional songs! So, during each trip, the three larger zambombas were safely tightened to the seat with their respective personal belt like any other member of the ronda!! The Sandia Mountains followed us to the right on our way to Santa Fe. After installing ourselves at the Sage Inn in Santa Fe, we had a quick lunch at a ...

Traditional New Mexico housing offered by Pat and Ron near Santa Fe. Two members of the Ronda Los Carrozas (Natalia and Enrique) started the trip one week ahead, in order to prepare the logistics for the group's travel, food, lodging and venues for singing. They were kindly hosted and accompanied by some friends in the New Mexico area: Ron and Pat near Santa Fe, and David and Dawn near Tularosa. Saint Michael's church in Albuquerque proved to have very good acoustics. A nice, clean, warm and comfortable room was kindly offered at The Landing. The Landing, offered by the church of Saint Michael and All Angels in Albuquerque, served as a perfect home for a few nights during this preparatory period. This church would later be one of the venues for our group. Meeting with Michelle, officer of the NMHC. The preparatory trip gave us the opportunity to visit the premises of NMHC in Albuquerque, in order to solve doubts and arrange paperwork with the dono...

Everything was ready for the trip. The little bus of Cifuentes town council was waiting for the ronda group by the Bar Salmerón, as we usually do when we go to sing in other towns. Just one difference: this time those towns were some thousands of miles away... It had taken a lot of work for Valentín to prepare the new zambombas (see this entry to the blog ), so we had to be extremely careful with the packaging. The boxes were carefuly stuffed with polystyrene foam to avoid breaking, and all hopes would be put on a safe handling by the flight companies. On the way to Guadalajara to pick up Tito, and from there to Barajas. So, the second batch with the fourteen members (two of us had come in advance to organize the logistics) were  already on their way to Albuquerque (Nuevo México), with a previous stop at Dallas (Texas). Checking-in the zambombas... Hoping they will arrive safely! On the way to the boarding gate.  Family picture near the gate, whi...