There is smoke in the air tonight, together with flames of bright red and yellow contrasted against the dark starry sky.
No, Aruba didn't suddenly turn into a group of pyromaniacs, it's Saint John's Day, or Dia di San Juan as we say here. While that sounds very Catholic, our native ancestors left a mark on it by incoorperating a distinctive pagan ritual, burying the rooster (Dera Gai). Another tradition is to build bonfires. These can turn massive, and the fire department will have their hands full tonight.
Nowadays no roosters are harmed in the celebrating of this festival. Instead a fake rooster is put in the middle of a circle. This circle is formed by dancing men and women clad in bright red and yellows, the colors of fire. One person is blindfolded and tries to hit the "rooster". The people in the circle sing:
San Juan ta bin, San Juan ta bai/Ate cu e palo den su man (Saint John comes, Saint John goes/There he is with the stick in his hand)
It's a very simple song, but it is one of the few 19th century local songs that is still known.
I like this festival a lot because it celebrates how two cultures merged and produced something new.That's something that modern Aruba could learn a lot from.
Hi Aruba Girl...please e-mail me directly whenyou get a chance...thanks
Posted by: Richard Richardson | July 30, 2006 at 08:03 PM