Charleston, West Virginia, with Hildo Ariel

Charleston, WV. Wednesday July 12, 2017.

All afternoon, Hildo Ariel played in the center court at the Charleston Town Center Mall. Many folks walked on by, but others stayed listening at the tables and benches near the Starbucks., I think it is safe to say that folks were certainly not expecting to hear harp music from South America. The mall management made it super-easy to be there, thanks to Lisa McCracken and a very helpful technician named Charlie. Lisa gave us an open invitation, and a generous gift card for use with the mall merchants.

We were surprised at lunch when the Chinese food vender, a young Chinese man, spoke with us in perfect Spanish! We learned that he had been born in China but raised in Venezuela from an early age. When I was in Venezuela, I noticed a lot of Chinese in business, even far out in the countryside. Those were the years of Hugo Chavez, whose international outreach brought Venezuela closer to China. Hildo Ariel, as a native Colombian, was able to say that the young man's accent was clearly Venezuelan and not Colombian.

The evening program was at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charleston (UUCC). The program was well received although attendance was very light. Our contact at UUCC was Paul Dalzell, and he broadcast parts of the program live on Facebook.

This morning, 7/13, we will move on to Parkersburg, West Virginia.