Colombia is a happy, friendly and colourful country that has put its bad years behind, says a Charlottetown woman.
Mabel Hernandez is organizing a public celebration of Colombia’s independence day tonight at Joseph Ghiz Memorial Park in Charlottetown.
The carnival of music, food, celebration and coffee begins at 5 p.m. and runs until 10. The national anthem will ring out and a moment of silence will be held in support of peace in the country.
Colombia has a long, venerable history, taking its independence from Spain in 1810.
“Every single city from every single region is different in Colombia,” says Hernandez.
They all feature different food specialties, different music and dance and each of the cities has its own carnival.
“There is a carnival for every single day of the year,” she said.
There will be seafood, chicken and rice dishes for sure at the P.E.I. celebration, said Hernandez.
“We are going to have the coffee that is the best coffee in the world,” she said, laughing.
Hernandez figures there are 150 people of Colombian origin living on P.E.I.
They are far from the country’s location at the top of South America, with the equator running through it. Not so far, however, to notice a change for the better in public security and good governance.
One year ago a free trade agreement took effect between Canada and Colombia.
“The deal happened because the rough times that we had before, is so much better now,” said Hernandez. “The situation is not the same like it was 10 or 15 years ago.
“The people are so happy, the people are friendly, the food, the music, for everything,” she said.
