El lenguaje de el Abanico

[conciencia]

Hay de las tradiciones Puertorriquenas donde estan?



El Lenguaje del Abanico

Cuando las damas puertorriqueñas del siglo 19 y principios del siglo 20 iban a bailes eran acompañadas por su madre o por otra persona adulta, llamada "la chaperona", para velar su comportamiento. Las chaperonas eran muy celosas por lo que las jóvenes tuvieron que inventarse un medio para poder comunicarse con sus pretendientes sin ser vistas por éstas. Usaban su abanico en diferentes formas para trasmitir los mensajes que deseaban:

Si la dama se abanica sobre el pecho lentamente, significa: "Soy soltera, no tengo novio"
Si mueve el abanico en movimientos cortos y rápidos sobre su pecho: "Estoy comprometida o tengo novio, sigue tu camino"
Si abre y cierra el abanico y lo pone en su mejilla, le indica al joven: "Me gustas"
Si coloca el abanico en su sien y mira hacia arriba: "Pienso en ti de noche y día"
Si sospecha que su amado le es infiel o lo ve hablando con otra joven, se toca la punta de la nariz con el abanico, indicándole: "Algo no me huele bien"
Si camina impaciente de lado a lado golpeando la palma de su mano con el abanico: "Ten cuidado, cariñito, por ahí viene la chaperona"
Si abre y cierra el abanico y señala hacia el jardín: "Esperame allí mi amor, pronto estaré junto a tí"
Finalmente, si mira al joven sugestivamente cubriéndose la boca con el abanico, significa que le está enviando un beso, y obviamente, el joven sabe que él es el escogido.

[Leticia_g]

Conciencia,
Muy interesante! Yo no sabia eso, asi es que no importa si tenian su chaperona or no las muchachas siempre tenian su metodo de comunicarse. lol

[Suki]

Displays the huge collection of "abanicos" that Dona Felisa Rincon de Gautier, la ex-alcaldesa de San Juan had collected over the years...I think it explains some of those intriguing Maja style traditions.

My grandmother who was born in 1902 never left her house to go to church without her base, polvo de arroz and her purse with her abanico. She had quite a few abanicos, and would choose a certain design to reflect her mood and told me a couple of those things you mentioned. She was a little on the codo side because she never would put more than a quarter on the colletion plate "la ofrenda" and always gave me only a nickel to put in as well. She was a diehard Jibarita born and raised in Barranquitas. How I loved her. She died in 1993. Y que descanse siempre en paz.

[yautiawoman2]

[quote]Originally posted by Suki
[b]Displays the huge collection of "abanicos" that Dona Felisa Rincon de Gautier, la ex-alcaldesa de San Juan had collected over the years...I think it explains some of those intriguing Maja style traditions.
-----------------------------------------------------------
My Dear Suki:

My mother was born close to "El Abanico" un cuchillo entre Barranquitas, between Comerio and Cedro Arriba, Naranjito. She had a nice collection of abanicos. Most of them no longer exist because children played with them and learned to love abanicos as a result. I let them play because I feel about abanicos the way Bertrand Russell felt about books, you sit on them, you play with them, you use them in many ways, once in a while you read them. I still have a few of them, those abanicos, although they are broken from the play by the children.

My mother felt the "abanico" gave you a sense of "proper dress" simply because you really do not need an abanico up in the mountains to keep cool. It is cool most of the time, but a lady does not go to church without an "abanico" and a Bible. Most of the people in her church, (the church is still there) are members of her own family. Now when I go to church there I go because that church is very much in support of the struggle to get the Navy out of Vieques. My mother was a Jibara and like most of the Jibaras up in the mountains of Puerto Rico you are a proud "popular" or you are a proud "pipiola." All her family was pipiola, she was a popular, but if you scratched the surface, there was a pipiola deep under. She would split her vote between populares and always vote for the pipiolos to have the senate seat by "acumulacion". It is hard to tell why the populares chose "commonwealth" they know the options are between independence or the colony, the commonwealth is not a possibility. What are you talking about, look all the great things Munoz Marin accomplished, my mom would say! Una colonia perfumada, you say. But we cannot go for independence the gringos will assasinate us, look what they did to Albizu Campos, they will kill anybody who stands up to them. They did it to him, to both John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, The Black Panthers, The Young Lords and anybody who will not agree with their plans for PR. Right, great concept of democracy. Better to die on your feet than begging on your knees, "sin voz, ni voto!" So why bother to vote, eh? It is always a good argument, my cousins, the ones that believe in Statehood for PR keep very quiet in these loud arguments among the family. They dare not speak, they are not part of the dialogue. I dont think Jibaros who believe in statehood have found a good argument for statehood. I never heard anybody argue for statehood up en el "campo". Now everybody wants the Navy to leave and the people in church, as a matter of fact all the churches, protestant and catholic are busy collecting signatures to let the Navy know that they are no longer welcomed in Vieques. Now that is progress, we have a consensus.

My mother would be real proud of that!

Yautia

[Suki]

Interesting....you know we have family members who are diehard statehooders like Noe, and etc. etc. but most of them don't argue with you Mami they know when their arguments are futile and weak....you are tough debater...lol. I love you Mami.

Suki.