At Bolivar Square in Barinas, as in any city in Venezuela, all kinds of events take place. Anything from a lone student who takes advantage of the generous gratuity of WiFi, a group of people who meet to share their spiritual practices, a rehearsal of students from a music school, or a collective reading marathon, to public and patriotic events sponsored by the local government. At the Square people walk through its ramble between the hectic habitat of iguanas and the imposing presence of the Liberator. They also recline on its uncomfortable benches or stop, urged by curiosity, to see what those disrupting the peace of the reptiles intend to say.
There, the House of Cultores, a former prison of Barinas located just off the Bolivar Square, is the Saint John’s Day celebrated with the musical support of the group “Drums of Yemaya”. This group is a product of the work of the Cultural Mission in the state, as it was proudly stressed by its members. Couplets from the Plains and improvisations received those who marched in the hope of praying for their health, improve their future, defeat enemies or overcome powerful dangers, implore wisdom or simply taste the punch of Saint John ,which I was assured by those present, has variants in Barinas.
Saint John’s punch is made with eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, a mass of corn with milk and rum and sugar. First, you beat the eggs in a grinder until the dough of a thick consistency is obtained, then the remaining ingredients are cooked in a mixture over low heat. When you add the roasted corn to that mixture, the mortar of the beaten eggs is also added.
Around Bolivar Square people wander with their Saint John’s punches in small plastic glasses without any restraint to the contagious drum or singing rhythm.
When testing the punch, I felt a kind of stream going down my chest. And the drums and couplets from the plains urged me to ask, to talk at least to the image of the saint who was bobbing restlessly on my eyes. And so, camera in hand, I made the healthy wind of the Bolivar Square Barinas my prayer of hope and health for the future.