Disco Arepas

Recently Sara began making arepas, the thick corn meal cakes eaten in Colombia. There are no Colombians here. She had seen a post by a Taiwanese blogger, Chuang Zu-i. Chuang has lived in several countries, and is a good cook. Chuang wrote that the texture was similar to some New Year's cakes in Taiwan. Sara was intrigued, and showed me a picture of the cornmeal mix on her phone. I had seen it in Walmart. It didn't make it to the shopping list, but I happened to be strolling down a certain aisle, probably looking for something else, and I spotted the distinctive package design. 

A couple of weekends ago she made them. By chance I had discovered some disco music on Youtube. I propped my laptop atop the microwave oven and let those 70's tunes play. Many of the songs I knew but had never known who sang them: Love Unlimited, Chic, Bill Withers, Bozz Scaggs, Sly and the Family Stone, and others I cannot remember.

Before the internet, those two parts of our night -- arepas and disco -- would never have happened. Not here, not now, not us. Maybe in a big city, with a large social circle. Maybe with some serious commitment and research, trips to a library, trips to a record store. But not in Zuni, not in 2020, not with these two kids. Not during a pandemic!  

The internet has some huge downsides. Lies spread with a speed and scope that can take the breath away. We still don't really know how it is changing society, or how deeply. But it can be a wondrous thing, too. 

In cold weather especially, that thick, warm, dense arepa texture is really satisfying. Thanks, Chuang! And thank you too, Bill Withers and friends. The high hopes and creative freedom of that time wafted over us all through your music -- your music stored there on the internet, there for us to reach for and discover.