Cumbia, Hippies and Disco

Some of my best memories are probably in the 70s into the early 80s. I was at the age where it was not unusual to see hippies around. We had some living next door to us at one time in the late 60s or early 70s. My dad being the kind of guy he was - clean cut, go to work every day kind of a guy - at first cast a suspicious eye on them and told us to keep our distance. It did not take long before he came to another conclusion. They had invited him in once as they were having a party. I can't remember why they invited him in, but he decided to go for whatever reason. (Maybe as undercover intel or some other reason we didn't know.) After that visit which wasn't long probably less than an hour, he came back and said, "They're alright. They're good people," so I guess our orders were rescinded, and we could talk to them.

After that day my dad would say hello, goodbye or wave to them if he were coming or going. I don't know what they did that magically had my dad "friend" them, but my dad was pretty open minded for that time; and he tried to teach us not to judge a book by its cover, so maybe that's why he decided to accept their invitation (to see what they were really all about). For the most part we just lived our lives and they lived theirs as friendly neighbours. Eventually they moved out and new neighbours moved in.

One new neighbour I had met just immigrated to Canada from Chile around this same time. They were people who were fleeing Pinochet's coup d'etat of 1973. I was young and didn't know a lot about the politics but did know they were scared for their safety in their own country. I met Maritza; she was a very polite and reserved girl close to my age. I grew to be best friends with her, and as we grew older, I eventually attended a dance with their family. Now that I look back at this period in my life, I realize how much I experienced and how it "grew" my mind.

First of all I had gone to school dances, but there was a great difference in the music and people. I found Chilean or many Latin Americans have a great zest for life. You could see it while they spoke - their hands also spoke flailing around pointing at some unseen object being discussed, smiles flashing at their memories or at their audience, and hands on their hips staring at someone else in deep conversation. It was different from what I grew up with. For one thing my family never went to dances. Our hands didn't usually do any talking except maybe to point something out and the point was to get to it and that was that. It was a very refreshing change.

Needless to say at the dances, the atmosphere was electric. The music was exhilarating, and I could feel it running in my veins as my body swayed back and forth to the beat. The food was unfamiliar, but it did not stay that way for long. My favourite was the tasty empanadas made with egg, ground beef, onions and black olives wrapped in a baked dough. Thinking about these makes my mouth water right now! Mmmm! These dances were also mostly always on Saturdays which meant dancing and drinking late into the night - 2 - 3 am. Then sometimes the party would carry on to someone's house, not always but sometimes. I was also at the age where I'd catch someone's eye or they'd catch mine. This made the parties draw me like a bee to honey because if you talked with someone you wanted to make sure that continued at the next dance.

I finally found my niche and had many Chilean friends that I "hung" out with regularly even outside of dances. Back then I did not have my child yet or hadn't even met her dad yet, so I was as free as a bird. My mind drifts back to those days (and nights!) thinking how lucky I was to have had that experience.

Around this time discos also popped up all over. Personally I have always liked all kinds of music and was not a disco hater like many people I knew. The discos gave me the same feeling as the Chilean dances - the undercurrent of excitement running through me - but I felt safer at the dances and liked that the dances were family friendly. I did like the music and lights in the discos, but I hands down preferred the dances. Plus the food in the discos were all things I probably had already or knew about so nothing to see here basically.

The Dance

On our dance nights we'd be getting all dressed up and made up for hours. When we were satisfied we looked stunning enough, we'd catch our ride to the community hall. Our typical entrance would be around 10 - 11 ish, and the hall would be all dark except for the stage and the kitchen. We'd have to squint our eyes in the first few minutes to see where we were and who else was there. The band would be playing although they always saved the good dance music till later when it was full. My friends and I would scout out an empty table and weave our ways towards it. An empty table became hot commodity as the night went on; and if you chose to come closer to midnight, good luck on that one. Once seated it was all dark, the music was loud then time to get food and drinks. I liked watching people as they came in. The women would be in some gorgeous dress with their high heels smelling of sweet perfume. Their husbands would be in suits or the very least dress pants. No slackers here! I remember there were a couple of "cute" guys I liked and always kept my eyes open for them. Sometimes much to my chagrin, they'd arrive with a girlfriend or date and then they were mentally crossed off my "cute" guys list. I wish I had such problems now.

I think this period in my life introduced me to so much that I had never seen before. It opened my eyes, and I've never shut them since. I hope you listen to the cumbias, and they get into your veins like they did mine. The ones dated in the 70s are closer to some of what I listened to back then. Ciao!