The Diaspora of the Orchids

About a month ago I noticed that there were two purple orchids in full bloom growing on a plant in the front yard of my grandpa’s house. I didn’t know where they had come from, I was sure nobody had planted them or bought the seeds, not even watered them, and I couldn’t recall since when they were there, they just happened to appear inadvertently, like wild things do.

Two weeks later the plant was blessed with four more beautiful flowers, making a total of six.  

Do you know what Diaspora means? My mother asked me a couple of days ago.

I told her that I reckoned I had heard the term somewhere recently –more than once I think- but I couldn’t remember what it meant.

Try to remember, she said.

Since I was incapable of doing so, I tried to guess its meaning only as an amusement.

The first thing I thought was that it sounded to be of Greek origin, I don’t know exactly why, maybe because it reminded me of the words Dionysius, (the god of wine in Greek mythology), and agora (the public plaza and main place of assembly in Greek cities), even though those two words have nothing in common, except their Greek origin.

So I rambled on as if trying to decrypt some sort of riddle. Diaspora… what could it mean, and why did I remember hearing it before?

Finally I went with what my instincts told me:

I think it’s of Greek origin, and it refers to a feast or something like that, a public celebration, maybe linked to a cultural tradition? I said in a dubitative way.

My mom saw me from the side, smiling, she seemed to be entertained by my answer. 

–I still had no idea if what I had said was even close to the actual meaning of the word-

Oh, honey, it has nothing to do with partying or feasting, she said, on the contrary, it’s rather a sad issue:  it is the massive exodus of people that are fleeing from their country, it was first used to refer to the Jews, but it can be applied to any group of human beings that massively abandon their place of origin.  

Orchids are epiphytes. (From Wikipedia) An epiphyte is a plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant (such as a tree) and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and sometimes from debris accumulating around it. Epiphytes differ from parasites in that epiphytes grow on other plants for physical support and do not necessarily negatively affect the host. (…) The term epiphytic derives from the Greek epi (meaning ‘upon’) and phyton (meaning ‘plant’) Epiphytic plants are sometimes called “air plants”, because they do not root in soil.

Of course my optimistic self had to come up with something happy for the meaning of the word. In my mind, Diaspora referred to a feast or a celebration of the people, but as sad as it could be, it was logical that I had heard the word recently, given its real meaning, and the current situation that there is in my country, Venezuela….

Then I proceeded to do some basic research: I typed “Diaspora” on Google, and to my surprise, the search engine automatically proposed the phrase “Venezuelan Diaspora”. –why on earth would that be a surprise? -  It turns out that there’s an article in Wikipedia titled “Venezuelan Diaspora” and another one titled “Bolivarian Diaspora” I also found various articles that talked about the potential of the Venezuelan Diaspora, the dispersion of the Venezuelan people around the world, its political and social causes, antecedents, future, cultural consequences, and so on.

Les “Orchidays” – Les journées de l’orchidée à Nivelles

Exposition internationale de milliers d’orchidées du monde entier !

Une quinzaine de producteurs de renommée internationale (Equateur, Madagascar, Brésil, Allemagne, France, Pays-Bas, Belgique, etc.…) vous présenteront leurs plus belles orchidées en fleur.

Orchids in the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens

Escape winter- a tropical floral paradise has arrived at Kew Gardens.

The festival gives visitors the opportunity to explore a hidden world of exotic orchids and tropical plants in the steamy rainforest of the Princess of Whales Conservatory-where it is always over 21°C.

20^th Annual Orchid Exhibition: Interlocking Science and Beauty – Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian Gardens and the United States Botanic Garden will open the 20^th annual orchid exhibition “Orchids: Intelocking Science and Beauty” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. On any given day, the exhibition will display more than 300 orchids.

According to Wikipedia, there are around 500,000 Venezuelans living in the United States, 250,000 in Colombia, 200,000 in Spain, 100,000 in Portugal, 30,000 in France, 15,000 in the UK, and 1,000 in the Netherlands- just to mention some numbers.

Mom, isn't the orchid the national flower of Venezuela?
Yes honey, why?
Oh, for nothing, it's just that orchids are everywhere.