I have not told you a lot about my work in the Fonda yet but will do so now as a lot of people have asked me what exactly I am doing. Well on a daily bases I am mainly washing dishes and cleaning tables. At night I am serving people and preparing drinks and food. Next to this I am doing the accounting (which is quite hard here as noone is really interested in seeing how much money we loose... sad figures) and I also help out with the publicity. That is I have put together some info about the Fonda (well with the help of Emilio and others) to create a flyer with info about the fonda, explaining what the initial idea was and what we try to accompish. So for you all here is some more info:
CAFE TEATRO LA FONDA DEL CHE
Our history:
On May 27, Emilio Talva, Musician and troubadour from Quetzaltenango (Xela) realized his idea of opening a small café-theatre in the historical center of the city. We are very proud to be neighbors of the Parque Paco Pérez, as Francisco Pérez Muñoz, a famous musician and poet from Huehue-tenango, has contributed a very important piece of art to Xela with his composition of “Luna de Xelajú”.
Our mission:
We present a different kind of concerts to the community of Xela and to all foreigners who come to visit us. In supporting local musicians and troubadours we try to enrich the music scene of Xela and add a little to the culture of the city. We also want to create awareness within the community of foreigners about the reality of Latin America with the lyrics of the music we present, discussions we have, and the materials we display. And finally, we offer you a place where you can eat a decent meal in a great atmosphere enjoying live music.
It is our aim that everyone feels at home in the Fonda del Ché.
Our vision:
We see the Fonda as a place where you can enjoy and share art.
We feel that in Xela and in Guatemala there are only few opportunities for artists and musicians. Therefore, we want to create a free stage for local and foreign musicians, who want to share their art with us, and, in this sense, create an exchange of ideas and culture.
With a percentage of what we earn in the Fonda we want to support our elderly and children in day-care centers.
Our values:
In the Fonda del Ché we respect everyone as a unique individual. We therefore do not tolerate any kind of harassment be it for race, gender, political ideals, or religion.
We want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable at the Fonda del Ché. To ensure this we care about the amount of alcohol we serve and we do not allow anyone in who has already exceeded his/her share of alcohol.
As we care for your security we have two different taxi services to make sure you make your way home safely.
La Trova:
Nueva trova was a movement in Cuban music that emerged in the mid-1960s. It combined traditional folk music idioms with progressive and often politicized lyrics. Though originally and still largely Cuban, nueva trova is popular across Latin America. While expressing progressive sentiments similar to those of nueva canción, it had the advantage of the support from the Cuban government, since it promoted the Cuban Revolution. During the 1960s, the genre's first Cuban stars arose, including Silvio Rodríguez, Vicente Feliu, Carlos Varela, and Pablo Milanés. In both Cuba and Puerto Rico, the politicized lyrics of nueva trova were very often critical of the United States. Despite the criticism of the United States’ government, many nueva trova artists were inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, as well as the British band The Beatles.
In this sense we at the Fonda del Ché see the trova music as a way to communicate with the audience. The troubadour who sings only accompanied by his guitar is telling a story, therefore the lyrics are often as important as the music itself.
Our name:
We do strongly identify with Ernesto “Ché” Guevara, which has nothing to do with being fanatic about Ché, but we share his dream of a united Latin America, which has overcome exploitation, hunger, and poverty.
If art is a road, we are a path.
Ok, this is the text we put in the trifoliar, that is what this kind of publicity is called in Spanish. Emilio and Erick have helped me with the Spanish version and Jacqui with the English one. As I am not using my English at the moment, or very scarcely I don't really feel very confident about it anymore... But well my Spanish is getting better :)
here also some pictures of my daily work in the Fonda:
This is a picture of the kitchen. As you can space is pretty limited. What you can not see is that it is not only a small space but the ceiling is also very low. I can scarcely stand in it if I do not put on shoes with heels.
Well the floor has to be cleaned, so this is what the fonda looks like during the day.
Dishes have to be washed, with cold water... there is no such thing as warm water here, that is only in showers.
Well and we also have to go shopping to have all the things ready for the night when our clients want to dring a mojito or eat some tipical dinner.
Don't think I am doing this all alone, Heovani is helping out and Emilio, as the owner of the place is also doing his share of work. So we are a little team here :)
Mtfbwy
