Nopal

Somos de la Tierra del Nopal
Image: Aswer Garcia

I was captivated by this image during my random scrolling a few weeks ago, and I also enjoy the caption. It is profoundly geographic and definitely sounds better in the original Spanish  than in translation. 

The Spanish "Somos de la Tierra del Nopal" means "We are the Land of the Nopal." This is even less poetic if we translate the last word: "We are the Land of the Prickly Pear Cactus."

But in any language, the point is made (pun intended) about the symbols that tie people to their land, in this case Mexican people to Mexico.

This illustration is a variation on the illustration central to the national flag of Mexico, which reflects the origin story of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan -- which was to become the literal foundation of Mexico City. The artist Aswer Garcia has done the original story one better, with the cactus growing from a skull instead of a rock. 

And now the final tangent in this post: I became aware of the symbolic importance of the nopal through a song by the McAllen, Texas band Los Frijoles Romanticos: ¿Donde Está Mi Raza?

Yours Truly with a Nopal at CATIE

Everywhere Johnny Goes

Johnny Cash was known as a performer of Country music, which is also sometimes called Country & Western. The latter is appropriate in the context of his song "I've Been Everywhere" which has been represented on the map below, shared on the popular Facebook page Terrible Maps.

Most of the locations are in the United States and even those that are elsewhere are in the Western Hemisphere. This is not what is usually meant by Country & Western, of course, but it works for the purposes of this post. And given that this is for a course on world music, we might call this an example of half-world music.

It is often good to avoid the comments in social-media posts, but I recommend the comments on this one. Some are unduly sarcastic or pedantic, but many do offer some geographic insights and opinions. They also mention other musicians with a claim to the song -- Johnny Cash was not the first nor the last person to record it.

Herewith, the song itself, with helpful subtitles.

I have not examined the map or lyrics in detail, but I estimate that I have been to about half of the "everywheres" mentioned.

Belonging from Sudan

Ahmed Gallab is a Sudanese-American song who performs as Sinkane. He spoke recently with NPR's Tamara Keith about his new album We Belong and how he, his family, and his music have emerged from the troubled land of their origins. 

Album art from Bandcamp, which sells a digital version of We Belong.