{"id":52863,"date":"2024-05-17T13:25:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/17\/how-kite-surfing-in-remote-colombia-changed-a-boy-and-a-village\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T13:25:10","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:25:10","slug":"how-kite-surfing-in-remote-colombia-changed-a-boy-and-a-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/17\/how-kite-surfing-in-remote-colombia-changed-a-boy-and-a-village\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kite Surfing in Remote Colombia Changed a Boy. And a Village."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/14\/world\/00colombia-kite-surfing-promo\/00colombia-kite-surfing-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"How Kite Surfing in Remote Colombia Changed a Boy. And a Village.\" title=\"How Kite Surfing in Remote Colombia Changed a Boy. And a Village.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They came from all over the world to this remote stretch of Colombia\u2019s Caribbean coast. Two hailed from India. Two traveled from Switzerland. One from the Netherlands. Another from Seattle. They all wanted to be taught by Beto Gomez, a professional kite surfer, in the spot where he first learned the sport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">La Guajira Peninsula is ideal for kite surfing. In Cabo de la Vela, Mr. Gomez\u2019s hometown, with nearly 1,000 residents and desert terrain, the windy season lasts nine months and the waves are flat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">So for five days this year, amateur kite surfers \u2014 drawn by Mr. Gomez\u2019s social media and competitions broadcast online \u2014 traveled here for his classes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIn India, we were really cheering for him,\u201d said Shyam Rao, 33, who arrived with his wife. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Kite surfing, using a kite to propel a rider across the water and through the air, is not native to this part of the world or to the Wayuu, Colombia\u2019s largest Indigenous group, which <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corteconstitucional.gov.co\/relatoria\/2019\/T-172-19.htm\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">governs<\/a> the area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was brought to Cabo de la Vela nearly two decades ago by visiting foreigners or <em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">arijuna,<\/em> a term in the Wayuu Indigenous language that includes Colombians who aren\u2019t Wayuu.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Not everyone in the community, whose leaders have fought to preserve their land and traditions, has embraced a sport that has brought growth and change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But kite surfing has undoubtedly turned Cabo de la Vela into a budding destination. Mr. Gomez\u2019s family found a source of income beyond the usual fishing or artisan crafts in one of Colombia\u2019s poorest and most malnourished <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/video-photos\/interactive\/2020\/08\/13\/people-resilience-colombias-wayuu-indigenous-community\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">regions<\/a>. And Mr. Gomez, 24, earned a ticket out, becoming the world\u2019s only <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gkakiteworldtour.com\/athletes\/beto-gomez\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">professional<\/a> Wayuu kite surfer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cKite surfing has been a gift for us because it opened the door for our town; it allowed me to leave and to fly all over the world,\u201d Mr. Gomez said, at the kite surfing school he owns with his older brother. \u201cI want others here to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Gomez was 7 the first time he saw kite surfing.He watched in awe as visiting kite surfers soared through the air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe had that emotion of, \u2018Wow, something new came and we want to learn it,\u2019\u201d he said. But he realized \u201cthat we were never going to learn it because that\u2019s not for us. \u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Back then, Cabo de la Vela was much smaller, said Margarita Epieyu, Mr. Gomez\u2019s mother, made up of roughly six extended families, which is how Wayuu communities are organized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tour buses arrived maybe every other month, only for quick trips to the beach, Mr. Gomez said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To get by, his father delivered water, his mother sold traditional Wayuu bags and hammocks, and he hawked bracelets. His family often ate one meal a day, usually fish donated by the community\u2019s fishermen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere was no tourism,\u201d Ms. Epieyu, 49, said, \u201cso here there weren\u2019t jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But that began changing in 2009, when Martin Vega, a Colombian kite surfing instructor, brought students from a kite surfing school near Barranquilla. \u201cThe wind was perfect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Vega, along with a friend, soon decided to stay; they established the town\u2019s first kite surfing school on land owned by a local Wayuu resident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One day, he said, a boy intrigued by visiting kite surfers raced after his car. It was Mr. Gomez\u2019s older brother Nelson, who already earned tips helping tourists and learned the basics of navigating on the water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Vega soon met Beto Gomez, who was then 10. Under Mr. Vega\u2019s watch and with their mother\u2019s permission, the boys trained after school and on weekends \u2014 if their homework and chores were done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe were like fish,\u201d Nelson Gomez, 25, said. \u201cWe could go in at 9 a.m. and leave at 6 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Added Mr. Vega, 41, \u201cThe idea was for locals to help us and come and learn, and that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nelson Gomez was a natural talent, but his competitive career ended when his leg was seriously injured in 2017, while he trained in Brazil. Beto Gomez, though, developed his abilities. At 13, he finished second in his first competition \u2014 a regional one three hours away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat was my first connection to the world, with a city, with escalators, elevators, traffic lights,\u201d said Mr. Gomez, who learned English from tourists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Three years later, Mr. Gomez won his first competition, and in 2017, relying on donations, he left Colombia for the first time, to compete in the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Every time he left, he said, the Wayuu authority, the group of elders who run Cabo de la Vela, had to grant permission, because the rule was \u201cwe cannot have contact with the outside world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But when he was 18 and competing in Brazil, the Wayuu elders denied his request to stay and work as a kite surfing instructor. He did anyway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As punishment, he said he was told to stay away for two years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His mother, who had married young and later divorced Mr. Gomez\u2019s father, said she defended her son and encouraged her children to pursue \u201copportunities I didn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His mother, Mr. Gomez said, \u201calways wanted us to follow our dreams and to go and live away from here.\u201d She also urged them to go to college and date people who were not Wayuu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He followed her advice, moving to Argentina in 2020 after a competition there and falling in love with an Argentine woman. This past March, his mother, who had never flown before, took off with him from Bogot\u00e1 for a visit to his home in Argentina.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As kite surfing grew in Cabo de la Vela, more tourists, restaurants, hostels and money arrived. Some Wayuu have welcomed the changes, but others are wary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHere in Cabo, the negative has been very minimal,\u201d said Edwin Salgado, 29, who owns a kite surfing school. \u201cIt\u2019s not a massive tourism, and the Wayuu culture is still felt and represented.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Epieyu, who receives money every month from her son\u2019s professional earnings, said seven of her 10 children now kite surf.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEven though people may not want it, kite surfing has changed Cabo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But some residents said more visitors has meant more alcohol, drugs, parties and outside influence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Wayuu consider Cabo de le Vela to be on sacred ground because, they believe, souls come to rest there and if they allow outsiders to \u201cinvade,\u201d they will \u201cend up without our territory,\u201d said Elba Gomez, 73, Beto\u2019s paternal aunt and a member of the Wayuu authority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Citing \u201cdisorder&#8221; and people \u201cnot friendly to their culture and territory,\u201d the Wayuu authority, in a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.elheraldo.co\/la-guajira\/autoridades-wayuu-desalojaran-foraneos-del-cabo-de-la-vela-442848\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">2018 crackdown<\/a>, pushed out foreign owners of businesses because it believed those should be operated by Wayuu people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Vega was one of two foreign owners of kite surfing schools. (Four schools remain today.) He sold the school to the Gomez brothers, and he and his wife moved to Riohacha, a city three hours away. There, he said, it was easier to raise their first child and start a new school nearby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI obviously respect the community, its customs and rules,\u201d Mr. Gomez said. \u201cIt\u2019ll change at some point, and I want to be part of that process, because this changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Every winter, Mr. Gomez returns home to Cabo de la Vela to visit family, give local children free kite surfing lessons and host a paid camp.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For paying guests, Mr. Gomez\u2019s mother recently made a dinner of grilled goat and arepas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The family wore traditional outfits, Mr. Gomez and his sisters performed a dance around a bonfire and explained their culture and language. Whether he is in Argentina or competing around the world, Mr. Gomez said he will always trumpet his Wayuu roots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI want to promote Cabo a little more so people come visit and enjoy our culture,\u201d he said, \u201cnot to change us and do what is always done everywhere, colonize.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/17\/world\/americas\/kite-surfing-colombia.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They came from all over the world to this remote stretch of Colombia\u2019s Caribbean coast. Two hailed from India. Two traveled from Switzerland. One from the Netherlands. Another from Seattle. They all wanted to be taught by Beto Gomez, a professional kite surfer, in the spot where he first learned the sport. La Guajira Peninsula [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/14\/world\/00colombia-kite-surfing-promo\/00colombia-kite-surfing-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12574,1417,17709,52527,2083,44312,4616],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52865,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52863\/revisions\/52865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}