Episode 2.3
Interview with Zara Monrroy, by Stephanie García on Dec. 17th, 2020
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Stephanie: Born in Punta Chueca, Sonora. Zara Monrroy considers herself to be an instrument to convey her Seri ancestors’ message. Poet, writer, singer, songwriter, dancer, composer, activist, feminist, ecologist, Indigenous Medicine Woman, actress, model, fisherwoman, and Seri translator; Zara belongs to the Comca’ac Nation. Her music is an eclectic fusion that intertwines together traditional songs and western sounds to rescue and preserve her culture. She has participated in the Cumbre Tajín, the International Cervantino Festival (FIC), the Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Festival (FAOT), and the UNAM’s Lenguas de América Carlos Montemayor Festival. En ‘Viento y Vida’, her first album, she combines Seri lyrics with modern genres such as rap, reggae, rock, and hip-hop. She collaborated in the sixth issue of Altaïr magazine.
S: Hello Zara! Thank you so much, welcome to Aquí&Allå! How are you today?
Zara: Very Good, super good! Before anything, thank you for inviting me.
S: Well, we have already given a small introduction of who Zara is, but we would like you to share with us in your own words who Zara Monrroy is.
Z: Well, Zara ummm well, I created this name Zara Monrroy, my original full name is Roxana Sarahí Romero Monrroy but I put Zara Monrroy after my mother’s second last name, because she is the one with the most family outside. In fact, she is mestizo, in other words, she is not one hundred percent of the community, she is not one hundred percent indigenous, but she obviously grew up there in the community and all this, so she has this last name that is so western, right? So I took that name, that last name for my artistic name and to start promoting culture. And Zara with a “Z” for my mother’s great-grandmother who at the time was a very warrior woman, who supported herself and all of my mother’s sisters. She is the one who was looking for food for them because at that time there weren’t many things that we now know, right? so she was, she did the work that women would have, right? So that was a situation that led me to change my full name to Zara Monrroy, which is easier anyways because it is more recognizable. For the last name of my family, of my mothers family, are the ones who live abroad, here in the cities, so I wanted to put that so that they could relate, my mother’s family, so they would know a little part of my culture, right? I mean, I don’t know how to say it but… something to share. And then I created that name Zara, but I started with music and poetry and literature in my mother tongue, thanks to my father who with whom I worked in fishing for a long time, from the age of 9 I started in fishing. That is my profession, I did not study any career, I was not in school, I was always fishing in the community, the community is dedicated to fishing and hunting. Those things of the community that some man of this community could do without problems, I was doing at 9 years old. Because, really, I lived with my dad more then with my mom, even though I feel like a complete family. And living together I always chose to work with my father because there was like a… I had to contribute because all the rest of his children are also girls, the son, the only boy, there were five women and my brother is number six but was little. So I am their third daughter and the older two, well, they studied outside the community and my father invited me to fish so that the two of us could bring food home, right? To support these two ladies who were studying abroad, so his plan was for them to get their degree and to then have them help me pay for mine. At the time that was his proposal. But from then I began to not like school, well not school itself but like the situations that you are stuck inside, right? Right now I am learning a lot about being locked up. So that led me to fish, to live together with the sea, to learn music with my father, all these things that are essential, essential to this community of so much nature, so it was wonderful for me. So at that time I was learning music with him, I started to write in the Spanish language, and learned to speak a little Spanish from my mother’s father. So there I learned various words in Spanish and from there I began to investigate more and I was always there looking for new things. So Zara is a person who is self-taught but does not stop inviting the girls and boys of this community. Which for not having those study tools, or normal schooling, or not having this education, or some piece of paper or certificate from elementary school, preschool, high school, high school now university, thoses give us many tools but also being self-taught and investigating oneself with their projects is also good, right? I’m not trying to say that studying is bad, but obviously in my time it didn’t go like that, right?
S: Yeah.
Z: … So Zara is made up of all this, right? Which is what she knows of this community, she is the one who takes the poetry, the music, and the culture of this community to other places, the corners of this country and this city and this community. To share what we have in alive so people can feel it and see it and if at some point someone needs to go do research of the community; which a lot of people have gone for research purposes, for ecology because in the community we have a lot of natural wealth, for astrology, for biodiversity of nature, which is very beautiful. So yeah, that’s the reason I am giving these words and for that reason I made this name to connect it with the people who require all this support but also to contribute more to the community itself.
S: I really like how you explain it because we have grown up with the logic or with a structure where we are told that, you have to go to school and that is the way you to learn and how knowledge is validated. I listened to you and the people who grow up in the city, I think we miss out on this opportunity to interact with nature, right? It is another way of knowing and continuing to learn and it is another type of knowledge. I think a lot about this dichotomy of being shaped in a way by how life is supposed to be but the truth is that it is not like that and there isn’t just one possibility. So it seems very important to me. I want to ask you, I know that you are originally from the Comancáac Nation, I hope I have pronounced it correctly, which we know it as the Seris but can you tell us geographically where you guys are located?
Z: Well, we are Mexicans, we are from the nation of Mexico and we are in the state of Sonora on the coast of the Sea of Cortés, through the Canal de infiernillo, we have the largest island in Mexico which is the Isla Tiburón. That is the reserve, the heritage of the community that they protect because that’s where the arrival of the Comcáac began, which was the war. We are located there in this area that is, kinda like the counterpart of Baja California Sur, umm, we have the sea, the Pacific Ocean, Mar de Cortes, Canal del infiernillo, and we are located directly in front of the Isla Tiburón, which is the the biggest island in Mexico, that community is where I belong, called Punta Chueca. It’s called “Punta Chueca” (translates to “crooked point”) because there is literally an area that is crooked, so that’s why it’s called that in the community. But we are two communities, on the north side of this community is El Desemboque of the Comcáac, that river mouth goes out to the open sea, the island isn’t right in front of the community but we have this large space, this open sea. At this river mouth is the town of Pitiquito, which is on the northern side of the city Hermosillo. So our town is in the town of Hermosillo, which is more connected to the capital city of Sonora, which is Hermosillo. These are the communities that form the two, together we are approximately 1,200 inhabitants. There are very few of us and that’s why we are kind of reserved and Zealous of our culture. The problem there is that we don’t get a lot of support from the government, from subsidies, from people, when we go out and say something through social media that we occupy this or that, or this or that is happening, we get an extended hand to intervene for us. Or health issues, now with the virus, which is spreading around the world, so with this pandemic we haven’t gotten much support. But these two communities are living in the desert and by the sea, right? We are in the middle of the desert and the sea, it’s an area pretty crazy but wonderful.
S: Wow, yeah! You said that you started finding and learning about music and lyrics from your father.
Z: Yes, my father, he started to evangelize at twelve years old with a Christian church that we have in the community. Most indigenas communities of Mexico are Catholic, they are of the Catholic church. But in this one community here in Sonora, we belong to a church that is very close to the faith of Christianity, it is very close such as our culture. Like, we do believe in someone superior, perhaps the supreme energy, the wind of life, the four elements, nature itself, ourselves with our own intentions and actions. So my father taught me a lot of these things and he has traveled to many places because he carried the Bible of Christianity and evangelized in the communities in Mexico and cities. So he would tell me about all these things and I imagined myself in those places, I saw myself in those places, right. Everything he told me was to say what you see isn’t all there is, there is more out there, there are people like us that speak differently, that are from different places, but we are all the same, and I don’t know, I would be like—ahh okay. Since I didn’t go to school I didn’t understand what happens in the world and if there were people out there. So with him I learned all that, how to visualize, how to create songs, how to be inspired by the environment where we live. In other words, how to live in those sunsets so beautiful, in that sea, in the desert wind, when it’s cold, the green of nature, the desert sometimes so gray, so opaque but sometimes green, the products of the sea and all it gives. So, seeing all this I started creating my own poetry and music, and my father was helping me with guitar, he taught me to play the guitar a little bit. I got to know all that he told me about and well, I could visualize myself and now I’m on this journey like my father, but in another context of the culture. He took the Word of God and I take the words of my ancestors. I think the end story is the same, because it’s something we believe and share, and all that good that we do is returned with good. It’s something I learned with music, with the subject of art, that it is very genuine, very honest, humble, from the heart, that you can share. That was what led me to realize that I have this knowledge and ability to do it and it’s not something everyone can give. Everyone, that is, they are going to get tired at some moment because there is a lot of sacrifice down that path, so the music, for me, has been my motivation and continues to be my motivation in life, you could say with inspiration despite everything that happens in this world. We don’t want our culture to die, we don’t want art to die, more than anything, because art is healing, it’s the expression of the deepest part of our beings that we share. It is the most sacred thing we understand, that we have. I take part of these moments and these words to share them elsewhere so that people who don’t know of my town can come to know it though my voice, my music, my poetry, from transmitting all this in Spanish, which is their language, so that they can understand what we have in the community. That was what I understood of music and that’s why I continue with music and I don’t think of leaving it even if it doesn’t give me food to eat.
S: Haha! Yes, yes.
Z: Because, look, although one doesn’t have enough money because sometimes art doesn’t pay, like sometimes it’s not really appreciated, but it does feed our spirit. That makes us understand more than money, more than fame, more than being validated , that is, of oneself, and sharing in that way, it is already something superior to what we could have even dreamed of. Don’t stop even if there is no reward or a payment, is what my dad taught me then. He is no longer with us but it was a great teaching which I continue to take to heart to share with people who will listen.
S: Ahhh, yeah, what an important moment to understand it like that, because, yeah, like you said we need to heal many things, not only as individuals, but as a community, as a nation, and the world. Not only the pandemic represents a critical moment but many situations going on around us and we are living in a moment of crisis. It seems like the world is living in a moment of crisis constantly and healing is important and to feed our souls, like you said, is important. So I want to ask you about what you just finished mentioning, but I heard an interview about the subjects you like to engage in and where you find inspiration. And you mentioned in the interview that you don’t like to use your poetry and music to highlight violence, like protest because you want to highlight the other side that is also important and beautiful. Could you speak a little more on that?
Z: Yeah, look, the whole world, all of humanity, we have also caused a lot of violence on ourselves. We have gone through a lot of violence, right, physical, verbal, even spiritual, and everything. In that sense, we as humanity need to heal many things and I’m not exempting myself from causing that violence. I too, in time I believe I have passed it, I have done it, and I have suffered a sexual violation, and from that violation I already have a son, from an uncle. So I don’t think of all those issues as taking them as a protest, as a way to throw people away and make them understand that situation, of violence with violence. I mean, I don’t believe that will get us anywhere, there has to be a balance. Like, good and bad exist in this world, so we want to find the way for this poetry, this music that we have as an experience, to reach people with poetry, to try to heal, is this thing that has already fractured. Like right now with my project of Zara Monrroy, who doesn’t stay quiet for anything, that doesn’t care about what others think and has to expose things because if not nobody listens to us, nobody understands us. But I am not doing it just because through violence. It’s a shame, right, that we as humans and sometimes as women, exert violence against other women and other humans, or against ourselves, so it’s unfortunate, right? Like, I’ve had cousins that have passed away, that have commited suicide, those are the ways that we self-destruct, and now these girls are not with us, because they killed themselves. Those situations have taught us a lot and taught us to not repeat the things that have happened and we don’t know why they happened, that’s why they did everything wrong and not they are not with us. It is really unfortunate because we couldn’t hardly do anything, but we can change the mentality of these kids in the communities because they are the ones that suffer in lots of ways, but more in the vulnerable issue are the girls and from these indigenas communities that we don’t even know where they are. These are very delicate issues, which are sometimes really complicated to be from here or there or to find the way to work between humans and we all find this mutual support as communities. I come from this community and I can tell you that there definitely is violence of all kinds. But sometimes it’s normal for us because we don’t know the things that we now know, like what is going on in the city, the marches for women, all these situations that we now can’t overlook. In these communities, we are just starting to understand these situations and today there are ways, legal ways, that we can change situations. We have to be constructive as humans day to day. It is an eternal battle that we have as human beings, both women, men, and as adult women and adult men, we have to gain knowledge to be able to guide children, because they are our families. So that they don’t take that path that we already established, that we found with errors, with problems, with stones, right? So all of this, I think is something that I can not fully address with my music but I can make a change. So all that I have lived, both good and bad, is what I can share but not with protest but with raising awareness. In all the lyrics that I write aren’t nasty or trying to say like, look here, you need to realize this, or f* you, f* your mom. They aren’t such cuss words but sometimes -in this context-, people seem to get out of hand because they don’t feel it this way. That is why this Zara project was made, to bring knowledge from outside to the community and vice versa, right; so that our culture doesn’t die out and our mother tongue continues to exist in the cultures of Mexico.
S: Okay. In what moment and why did you decide to leave the community? I was reading before and investigating a little and I know Mexico City was not the first place you went to, so was it the city of Hermosillo?
Z: Yes, the city of Hermosillo.
S: And you returned and then, well… could you tell us some more about that and why you decided on Mexico City and what has captivated you about Mexico City and that has kept you in this great monstrosity?
Z: Well, yeah, first of all I went out to look for schools to be an observer, like the one here next to my town, which is 15 minutes away, and learn Spanish a little more because I was interested in speaking Spanish, I just liked it. From there I went to Hermosilla for a little while and I came to know so much, like what a city is like with the pros and cons. After that for a while I came here to Mexico City, because they invited me, some friends said “lets go backpacking, let’s go to Mexico City” but they already knew the city, they were older and I was still a kid and I barely had my IFE. So, I got up and went because, well, I think I liked the idea of traveling in a plane. Then we were suddenly traveling on the plane, we arrived in Mexico City and it was crowded and it felt all cloudy, but it wasn’t like that it was just the contamination. I fell in love, honestly with the food. After a week I had already run out of money, I didn’t have a job here, I didn’t know what I would do, finally I was like why did I come here? What am I doing? Then I met a friend who is honestly like a sister, she introduced me to more music, I was going to the bars in the Centro Historico (Historic Downtown) and I was living behind the Garibaldi en Mexico City. Every morning I would eat torta de tamales, which are super good, and your atolito and still in the mornings it was taquitos. Those costs, at the time, were like 3 or 5 pesos, I don’t remember exactly, but I was like a rich person in the city with the little 50 pesos that I earned.
S: Exactly! Haha!
Z: I began to create more music. When I arrived here in the city I was introduced to rap, hip hop and all that, so it was interesting because from there I realized I wanted to sing my lyrics with rap music and other western genres, with the language, with Spanish. We went to Tepoztlán to a place called “El Mango,” and I sang rap music, in Seri language, and there I got on the stage alone and sang three complete instrumental songs. There two women came up to me and say, “hey, we know your town” and I “I didn’t think anyone knew it.” So in creating this path I started to realize “oh well, I’m really doing something interesting.” The young people of the community and my cousins said “hey what are you doing now, where are you?” and I “aaah I’m here in Querétaro.” It was December about to be the new year, I don’t remember the year, it was a while ago, my dad said, “hey but do you have enough money to come back, how are you going to make it?” I was like “no, I’m working, I’m fine, I’m in Querétaro.” And everyone was like “oh yeah she’s fine, do what you need to do and when you need something let us know.” But it was interesting for me because my father let me do what I wanted and be who I am, but my mom is the one who doesn’t, still isn’t 100% in agreement but now we are coming to a friendship between us, to be able to discuss subjects. Like my sexual preference, which are different, my music is very different, my lyrics are very different then what they do traditionally, which is a fusion. Yeah, my work has kinda been more, how do you say? More complete, and I keep investigating, trying to have more discipline, practicing my voice, because making music in your mother tongue is super easy but for me in Spanish it’s still pretty complicated. Right? Because there are terms I don’t know well or I understand something and you understand something different because you speak differently and your world is of a different context. I don’t speak Spanish well, or what I’m trying to say is different from what my brain is thinking and I’m trying to explain something that I don’t even understand myself. I try to study the “underground” music, you could say, the most urban of the city. I knew rappers in town so I knew different kinds of words. And soon after they were inviting me to El Cervantino, to international festivals, national government festivities, foundations, conferences, and my own community. I became Comca´ac Culture Ambassador, right? I have been looking for support and helping my community, to help children through artistic activities, workshops, etc.
S: Yes. It is very beautiful to listen to you. I can’t help but think, the same thing happened to me with Lukas and it was made very clear to me, but I can’t help but think that in addition to being an artist, you’re an activist, you care about your people, you care about people. Not only the people of your community, because many of these values that you share, you open to other people, for the simple fact that we are human beings. That seems vital to me, I think we need more, more people like you in this world. Right now as I was listening to you, I was remembering when I was researching about you. It is a trip because… I really like being able to find a melody or a song that you sing and that is like from the region you come from or your community and then listen to something completely different, like rap or hip hop in your own language. It is fascinating to be able to see that journey and that it is facilitated for you and that you also enjoy it and that you are not trapped in one genre, instead, you can come and go from all those styles or genres, I think it gives you much more creative freedom. Is that so?
Z: Yes, that’s the way it is, and many people try to label it like “Ay Zara is a rapper”, right? I’m not a rapper but oh well. My project that I call “eclectic fusion,” fusing genres, “eclectic” is like the word generally used with fusion, right? Well, that’s what I call my work, but a lot of people say “Ah, she’s a rapper”, but I’m not really a rapper, I don’t consider myself a rapper. Yes, the lyrics give you a lot of creativity, listening to these rhythms. I have a secret, that is, first I listen to a beat or say a track and then I go to the lyrics. In other words, when I know that the beat is about this or that, it is super powerful, it is about war, is it about feelings… so I kind of look for a way to raise awareness, about how we can be all merged with the theme of nature with human beings, dance, water, sea, desert. So what I do, I translate it first into the language for the people of the community and then into Spanish. And then I start to sing it and I give myself all the freedom and creativity in the world, but obviously I sing about the album and traditional music doesn’t have a track but sometimes rattle or drum. But more rattle, it is the main instrument that we have and I also like that a lot. I look to be respectful with the traditional music of my community. I don’t merge the traditional songs that are already there, I only sing them in the traditional way and the other music I do is, well, it’s all different, right?
S: Zara, you are powerful. What would you say to a young artist, whether from your community or elsewhere, who would like to live in the way of the arts and who would like to be an artist?
Z: Well, to begin, to believe in ourselves and that we ourselves can do these different things. Sometimes one does not just have it -the gift of being an artist-. But we can continue to be shaped. All that can happen with practice, I think we all have the ability to make art so that, as I said, for me it is the feeling or the deepest expression of our beings that we share. That is what makes people understand it, comprehend it, and embrace our projects. So to begin, we shouldn’t invision ourselves with millions of pesos and with fame or followers, that will start forming when one grows in their knowledge in the art, right? But from the beginning, to give oneself to the art, being oneself with art, right? To be forming yourself, consciously that art sometimes leaves us, sometimes not, but actually it leaves us more spiritual, right? In other words, …spiritual aspect because that gives us the eagerness to create more things and if you realize, there are times that people are making their music and someone comes and says: “Oh, that song made me cry” or “It made me understand many things and not seek the issue of favoring ourselves,” like looking for a lot of money or a lot of fame, so I always started with this, right? With visualizing all this that I now have to believe in me, in my project, then, above all, I am believing it more in myself, right? Because I then consciously did it, at the time it was something like experimental, and now I am making it more professional and more conscious, to share, right? With the people of my town because, well, we are very interested in music like the change inside ourselves. So I want to tell these young people that also want to make art, is to believe in themselves and to not give attention to any negative comment, but if it is negative, see who it comes from, and also check that those words are constructive for their project and their personal artistic growth. So, all this will help us to be more creative, both good and bad, but we are being shaped as artists and that makes art come alive. Why? Because also these negative comments that come to us, we examine them and continue on the road and share, right? Still improving, building those words that come to us negatively, so don’t take it personally when they talk to you about your art. There are times when they say: “that’s wrong” or I don’t know, that’s your art, you understand yourself, you understand it, and if at that moment you can transmit it and that people understand it, then you are already achieving something greater. And believe in yourself, especially, is the first step, right? I believe in myself, I do it, I understand it and that is what I am going to express, that makes people also connect and understand. So that is what I always try to do and I practice and I am doing. So first is to believe in yourself, even if you fall, get up, alone or not and continue doing it, right? Because on this path it is not easy and sometimes we are left with nothing. Sometimes there is no work, like these situations, but we can do other ways, which right now is through the internet. Those would be my words for the people who want to do it, who are young, those are my words for you. From all my heart.
S: Beautiful! So good Zara, well we are going to start the last section, it is a very simple section, they are short answers. The Idea is to respond… well you can take however long you want, there is no limit but…
Z: You hear I take my time, right?!
S: No, no! Haha!
Z: Subtle! Okay!
S: Are you ready?
Z: Okay, come on, lets go!
S: Favorite food?
Z: Pozole, pozole, pozole!
S: What makes you curious?
Z: What makes me curious? Ummm, I’d like to sing in English one day, I’m very interested in that.
S: What is the worst advice someone has given you?
Z: Ummm, “stop what you’re doing because it won’t give you food to eat.”
S: The best advice someone has given you, other than your dad?
Z: Mmm well, apart from my Dad, a grandmother who is also gone, she told me a story and said “the power of singing is improvisation” and while she was singing on the seashore, she improvised. She sang improvising, right? Like, she was improvising and I asked her why would improvising have power? Well, it is the moment to create, in this precise moment you are creating it, that makes your power stronger, right? Your power to create, your power to heal and your power of words, it grows because you are doing it from the heart and it’s improvising — Improvising isn’t bad nor good. In other words, it is what she told me-, that it is not bad, but I was like “Why did she say that?”. But that’s the super good advice she gave me, I don’t know if I can explain it better, but that’s how I understand it. I think my brain had a better answer, but the fact is that she told me that singing, or more, getting those lyrics in that moment. It is something powerful because it’s our souls that are speaking, right? From her I learned that music and art have been a profound expression of our being, that’s why I repeated it a lot because grandmother was a teacher for me, just like my father.
S: Other artists who have impacted you?
Z: Mmmm, the truth is another artist… You know who I saw live at Cumbre Tajín, I think in 2012? I don’t remember exactly, I saw this girl, I don’t know where she’s from exactly, was Bjork. Oh, no! she is… she obviously is a super big international artist, right? I mean in terms of a great career because she is very short. She is very small but great in the things she does, so she impacted me a lot and I always said “I would like to reach that height” because she was a powerful little witch. When you see her live singing and all that, and dancing and performing and all this, Like, she doesn’t lose her voice, because she is a professional. I just laugh on stage and I’m winded and tired. So she impacted me personally and well, I dream of reaching that level of work that she does, that is, but I know that it is a lot of discipline, a lot of dedication, a lot of time, but above all a lot of practice. So I really like her music although most of it I don’t understand but obviously there is the translation and well, her voice more than anything attracts me a lot, that is, she transmits something that fills me, like, I don’t understand her but she makes me cry, right? Like, I don’t understand but it produces in me this feeling or I hang to it or I feel liberated or something like that. So she causes me many things in that sense and well, I saw myself in her, right? … It is not who exactly I want to be but the truth is that I would like to be able to transmit that way, both in dance, in music and doing both on stage, that would be incredible for me. Beyond all her performances and what she does with her music when she sings is her personality, her transformation on stage, her wardrobe, the stage she has, the team, it would be huge for me. I am still so impacted as I am remembering it.
S: Yes, yes, I agree. I think there must be people out there who have felt that way with you, so don’t stop dreaming, because I think you do and will continue to do so. Do you have a routine or ritual that you do daily?
Z: Hmm, look, before the Covid, when I still didn’t have this sickness, when it didn’t even exist, I always woke up around 4 in the morning and by 5 or 6 I already had music on. I also did not sleep without music and I also couldn’t wake up with all the silence in my room or in the place I was in, so I always played music as soon as I got up. But currently what I do is have water right next to me, warm water, I don’t drink anything cold or cool, like nothing cold or too hot, so… yeah, only water and currently I am still sleeping with music. That relaxes me a bit and my partner puts little oils on me because it gives me a lot of anxiety. I mean, I wasn’t like that, but well, this is what this virus left me with, so I follow it, it’s calming down a bit. And the music now makes me, well, release me a bit of all that too, and it takes away a lot of stress and anxiety too, when I’ve been doing all this for like 2 days, then that has helped me a little, right? So the ritual for whoever wants to is to wake up to music.
S: Yes, to start your day off well!
Z: Yes, sure! You have to have that positivity and to pull from the music… well, I don’t know, whatever music you want to put on, because that makes our intentions for the day better, doesn’t it? If we go through the day, well, let’s see what we can do, what can we change, obviously we can do it. So being positive with music and music opens that window of positivity for us.
S: Yes, I agree. Hey, so you had COVID?
Z: Yes, I almost died. But I’m still here.
S: Your kidding. And are you better? Have they already done tests to see if it has left your body?
Z: Hmm, well, I got it mid-June and it lasted until mid-August and I currently have gastroenteritis, it made my whole stomach really sick. Sometimes I still feel that my intestine is inflamed, or something in my body and I had been eating purely broth for months, and smoothies, little things like that, only now I’ve been eating solid food for about a week. But it affected me a lot, it gave me confusion, I felt that I was dying, I could not breathe, I was always face down, during the day I was always sitting in a chair, I bathed like every one hour, two hours to feel my body and know that I was living. I don’t know, it was something very strange that I felt, perhaps because I didn’t have oxygen in my brain and then I got anemia because I didn’t eat anything during the illness and it was horrible, right? So I think that’s why the people can’t hold out and all my town also got it, both in Desemboque, and in Punta Chueca, the two communities. No one died, because of the foods, it’s another type of food that we eat, well, this generation does not, I eat everything in the city and in the town. So I think it affected me, a bit because of that, it affected the young people a bit. My older sister also had it badly, me, an uncle, and an aunt too, that I know of. But the rest of the people continue without anything and they have never been so bad, although we did not go to the hospital or anything, we always heal at home. Well, we have a treatment that the doctor gave us, remotely. I thought I was no longer going to be able to live but I asked someone, obviously my dad, God, right? I told him “give me more time, I want to do more things, I want to make my album and I want to share, I want to stay here” right? I would sit in the sun and my feet would feel super cold, like, the upper half of my body would be warm and it was very strange. Now any noise for me is a super tremendous noise, it made my ears very sharp and my skin very sensitive, the cold makes me so super cold, it hurts to the bones, the heat knocks me down, I lay down and well, my super sensitive stomach I can’t eat any sauces and well, I think that in the morning I swallowed a good amount of sauce and I think it gave me something of a feeling! Horrible to the stomach and it’s really terrible that a lot of people are dying from this issue and we do not yet know how it will be but we have hope that we are still here and that we are creating, right? So that has been like a learning time having this, it leaves us with the desire to live more, for me it did, and now we have to take care of ourselves with this issue.
S: It is so good that you have recovered and it is good that your community and your family are well. Last question, If one day someone told you “hey, Zara you can’t sing anymore, you can’t compose, you can’t write poetry, you can’t do anything related to this are you love so much anymore,” what would happen to you?
Z: Well I would look for new talents and represent them.
S: I love it!
Z: Easy, I already have a plan, I’ve already thought about it.
S: Can we hear?
Z: Yeah
S: Or is it a secret?
Z: No, I mean, I say that if at some point in my life I no longer dedicate myself to this, I am going to represent people who are new talent from the community, from the city. I don’t know, searching, since I’m already in this medium, don’t count it too much but I like to be behind the cameras, to make movies, to do theater and all that. So if there are people who want to sing, I can represent them, look for venues, make products that are super nice and sell them their work so that they can eat from there, that they can be useful in the field of art, that they believe in themselves, and well that’s my plan B, if something happens and I can’t do this anymore.
S: I love it! So good. Thank you very much Zara it has been very fascinating to get to know you more like this, personally, to hear what you think. The truth is that there are so many things, very important things in everything you said about principles in life of how to live, right? Or what is more important. How important your art is to you and that it is contagious when I listen to you and when people listen to you, not only singing but also talking and it seems to me that it is vital, thank you for accepting the interview, it was very fun.
Z: No! Thank you for considering me and for providing this space for my project. And obviously you have an ally on me and we are all in this path of art and we want art to continue to exist. Thank you very much for doing this and, well, it has been really nice to be able to share with you through this platform and with you. In Seri: thank you very much, God bless all the people who listen to us, you, God bless you very much and that we continue here sharing on this journey.
S: Okay, perfect. Great, well yeah, that would be all, thank you so so so very much, we hope you continue to get better, go composing little by little, don’t eat a lot of salsa yet, if you aren’t allowed yet.
Z: Nooooo, I can’t live without salsa!
S: I know, well still, many blessings to you!
Z: Okay! Thank you very much!
S: Thank you, good night.
Z: Good night!S: We thank Zara for this passionate conversation. We invite you to stay tuned for her upcoming projects, including the release of her second album, a documentary, and a book about her life. Follow her on her social networks. Instagram: @zaramonrroyoficial1 Facebook: zaramonrroy12
REFERENCES: COMING SOON