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Llamadas-----(Calling)

Most of the population of Uruguay are descendants of European people. About 2% are descendants of African people. The original native people of Uruguay were almost exterminated, so we have no cultural heritage that comes down to us.

The African heritage has deep roots in our culture. In the southern neighborhood of Montevideo black people walk down the street playing drums and the whole neighborhood comes outside and walks behind them. This custom, called "llamadas", was started a long time ago.

These drums are exclusive and especially handmade in my country with curved wood. The "lonja" (cover) is made of sheepskin which the people pound by hand. The "lonjas" have three sizes called "chico", "repique", and "piano". Each of these makes a different sound.

Once a year on Friday's carnival we have a huge parade of "llamadas" with many groups of black and white people wearing special costumes and typical characters playing drums and dancing in the street. The parade goes for many blocks and many hours. People from all over the world come to see this spectacle. When the parade ends many hours later in the night, all the people dance on the street. The music we dance to is called "candombe".

The Uruguayan carnival is the longest in the world (40 days).

I think the cultural diversity of my country is important to honor and customs such as "llamadas" have been adopted to give us cultural identity.