De Colores

---

What a blessing, that there are people and cultures that are not afraid of color! Not just rich, saturated hues, but delirious combinations: red & blue, yellow & purple, green & orange. All on one house! Multiply that by a hillside collection of dwellings, and you get the sublime. These little neighborhoods and serpentine streets are awesome, a waking dream. Giotto-esque, not only for the color, but the jack-straw hodge-podge organic building of one structure upon another, nary a parallel line.
A short walk down the hill there is a tree filled median where fruit and vegetable vendors set up there stands. Luscious produce grown on nearby farms. There is a lady there who has a table on which sits twenty or so plastic one-gallon containers. Each holds a different sauce (mole) or salsa. She also has a five-gallon bucket of Chili Rellenos. On request she'll scoop as much as you'd like into a plastic bag, or you can get it on a plate and eat it there. The flavor defies words - again delirious comes to mind. There is a quiet little coffee shop, and just on the other side is a tortilla shop. You stand at the doorway and order your corn tortillas that are made on a machine that fills the tiny room. A wad of dough kerplunks onto a dish that then flattens it. Then the wafer travels on a metal conveyer belt through an oven, falling on the other side into a basket. I ordered "doce" (twelve, thinking I'd get a dozen.). The woman began stacking the hot tortillas in handfuls on the scale. By the time pile was about a foot high, I knew we were not on the same track. She thought I wanted 12 pesos worth (aprox. $1.20). So we settled on half. And just as well. Stuffing our mouths as we stumbled down the street: the softest, sweetest, fluffiest corn tortillas ever.

"De Colores" - traditional folk-song

De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores, de colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera
De colores, de colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Canta el gallo, canta el gallo con el kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri
La gallina, la gallina con el cara cara cara cara cara
Los pollitos, los pollitos con el pío pío pío pío pío pí
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
De colores, de colores brillantes y finos se viste la aurora
De colores, de colores son los mil reflejos que el sol atesora
De colores, de colores se viste el diamante que vemos lucir
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Jubilosos, jubilosos vivamos en gracia puesto que se puede
Saciaremos, saciaremos la sed ardorosa del Rey que no muere
Jubilosos, jubilosos llevemos a Cristo un alma y mil más
Difundiendo la luz que ilumina la gracia divina del gran ideal
Difundiendo la luz que ilumina la gracia divina del gran ideal

Colorful, colorful are the fields in the springtime
Colorful, colorful are the little birds that come from far away
Colorful, colorful is the rainbow that we see shining
And that is why I like wonderful colorful things
And that is why I like wonderful colorful things
The rooster sings, the rooster with a kiri kiri quiri kiri kiri
The hen sings, the hen with a cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck
The chicks, the chicks with a peo peo peo peo pi
And that is why I like wonderful colorful things
And that is why I like wonderful colorful things
Colorful, the dawn has brilliant and delicate colors
Colorful, colorful are the thousand gleams that the sun stores
Colorful, colorful are the diamonds that we see shining
And that is why I like wonderful colorful things
And that is why I like wonderful colorful things
Joyous, joyous may we live in the grace of He who wills it
May we quench the burning thirst of the King that does not die
Joyous, joyous we shall bring to Christ a harvest of souls
Spread the illumination of the divine grace from the great ideal
Spread the illumination of the divine grace from the great ideal

---