Now that Labor Day is over and Fall has really begun – which means we’re getting much, much closer to Christmas – it’s time to see what some of our local belenistas are doing.
Florida Belenista Orlando Cuadra is preparing his own Belén and is also going to go to Savannah to help Brother Robert set up his Nativity Scene in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. In California, Benito Santivañez is preparing to set up his Belén at his parish church, San Martín, but first he will display it for three days at an exhibit of creches sponsored by the local Mormon church.
José Herrero of Nebraska is planning an even larger scene this year. But this week, he’s going to the Holy Land with the Asociación de Belenistas de Madrid. We will be looking forward to his report on that trip!
In the meantime, he has sent a couple of photographs of his work. In the first, we see the preliminary stages of the façade of a house. The second shows us the beautifully finished façade, complete with little balcony. José will give us more details on his belén when he returns from Tierra Santa.
Incidentally, anyone who wishes to share photographs or information about a Belén in progress is welcome to do so. Send me an e-mail at Elizabeth@SpanishNativity.com. You can attach photos and I will reduce them in size or crop them as appropriate to display them on this blog. I am going to begin a gallery for this year’s photos, so that we will be able to see each other’s work here in our little “virtual belenista association.”
Hispano-hablantes: Si te gustaría participar en nuestro “asociación belenistica virtual,” envíame tus fotos e información en castellano a la antedicha dirección y yo haré una traducción al inglés para incluir tu reportaje en el blog. No te olvides de darme unos datos básicos, por ej., de donde eres (país, localidad), el tamaño de tus figuras, etc.
Now I’ve got to go back to reading the wonderful magazine, Taller de Belén. Created and edited by Manuel Ortega Rodríguez in Cádiz, Spain, this magazine is unfortunately not available by subscription in the United States, so I can acquire it only when I visit Spain. It’s practically worth the trip. Every issue is full of great and useful information, interesting advertisements, and wonderful photographs. This issue, No. 8, has detailed information on constructing various buildings and accessories for your Belén. Plans are included. It also has a good article on providing illumination for your scene, and a very useful article by Joaquín Pérez on repairing your figures, something we must all deal with at one time or another. 
I can’t recommend this magazine highly enough and I only wish we could obtain it easily in the United States. Subscription is 30 euro per year (4 issues) and if you live in Spain, you can write to info@edicionesae.com to subscribe or receive more information.
