Aproveché también de hacerme una selfie para dar constancia de mi aventura buscando una roca impactante:

Luego me alejé del lugar y caminé hacia el Mercado Municipal de Carúpano, que queda cerca. En el trayecto pensé en lo maravilloso que es la naturaleza y en las lecciones de vida que nos da. Sin duda, podemos actuar en algún momento como agua y, en otros tantos, como roca.

Hay muchas historias trágicas de esta roca. Desde aquí algunas personas se han lanzado al mar para quitarse la vida, y lo han logrado. Nadie ha quedado vivo cuando se ha atrevido a tentar a la muerte desde esa altura. Además, abajo hay un tapiz de piedras, y el mar es muy profundo.

También la piedra con su boquete se presta para que el carupanero invente frases con doble sentido, cargadas de humor negro. Así, por ejemplo, cuando una mujer alborotada se casaba por la iglesia, la gente decía:

Ay, pobre niña, está más cerradita que la piedra del boquete.

Además, cuando una mujer no corresponde en afecto a algún pretendiente, le dicen:

La piedra del boquete es más dura que tú, y el agua del mar se ha metido dentro de ella.

Como puede observarse, estas son frases machistas y sexistas, que han utilizado a la roca del boquete como un símbolo de la carupanidad.

Aproveché la distancia para tomarle otra foto a la roca. Y me sentí emocionada de verla, majestuosa, indomable, pero herida.

Desde la distancia, podría pensarse que el "boquete" está en la montaña. Pero no es así. El boquete está en la roca que se encuentra al final de la montaña. Desde mi perspectiva, ella también sirve de soporte a la montaña de "El Vigía".

Ya para cerrar mi participación, les compartiré una décima que escribió Hive account@acostacazorla sobre esta roca, la última vez que estuvo en el pueblo.

En mi pueblo hay una roca
En el sitio del boquete
dónde la ola arremete
y mi corazón se desboca
un túnel que gota a gota
el mar ha ido forjando
y yo le estoy cantando
con mi décima de asombro
querido pueblo te nombró
y el mar te está cincelando.

There is a significant difference between a rock and a stone. A rock is large. It can be so robust that someone might mistake it for a mountain. Stones, on the other hand, are usually fragments of rocks.

Today I will show you a rock that is a natural emblem of the town of Carúpano:

She was there, before the town was founded. She was a kind of natural retaining wall against the sea that roars like a lion and pierces fortresses built by man.

This area is called "El Boquete" (The Hole). And some people believe that this name comes from the hole in this rock. However, according to Todoro Millán, a local chronicler and Living Cultural Heritage of Carúpano, the townspeople gave this area the name "El Boquete" when "Cerro El Vigía" (Lookout Hill) split in two due to the force of the sea; back then, everything that is now a road was once the sea and reached as far as the area known as "Guayacán de Pescado" (Fish Guayacán).

With progress and the unstoppable growth of cities, roads began to be built, and the hand of man intervened to "steal the sea's natural space." But every so often, it seems to remember what once belonged to it, and the waves crash against the seawalls, to the point of flooding the avenue. I have seen immense waves wash over the city, and from the depths of the sea, terrifying roars can be heard, knocking down the stones on the shore. But the rock with the gap remains unmoved and withstands the fury of the sea with composure.

Some elderly residents of the area told me that, according to their grandparents, the hole in this rock was once tiny. But the sea has, over time, eroded its strength.

The gap in this rock allows me to recall some ideas contained in the I Ching: The Book of Changes, which speaks of water and mountains (rocks or stones) to philosophize about life.

According to this book, water is:

(The Abyssal - Kan) It symbolizes constant flow, adaptability, and danger. The I Ching maintains that water is the symbol of perseverance in the face of difficulty. It flows, overcoming all obstacles, never stopping, always finding the path of least resistance. Its motto is that, like water, you must move forward, overcoming problems with constant practice and virtue.

This philosophical approach to water is corroborated by the image of this rock. The seawater constantly comes and goes, and upon colliding with the solid rock, it managed to wound its interior. Now the obstacle has been overcome, and the water flows through its interior without anything to stop it.

For its part, "The Stone / The Mountain (Stillness - Ken) represents stillness, meditation, solidity, and knowing when to stop. In the I Ching, the mountain symbolizes the moment of setting limits, of not advancing when the terrain is dangerous or uncertain, and of finding inner peace.

This rock is a symbol of strength. It has yielded to the allure of the waves, yet it remains standing, thus restraining the impetuous sea. This rock is the support of the fishermen, who cast their lines onto the beach in search of food. It has also witnessed many declarations of love and heartbreaks.

I wanted to take a close-up photo of the rock and tried to climb down the hill to get closer. But I was alone, and I thought that if the waves intensified, I wouldn't be able to climb back up. So I only went down a little way, because I'm not "the Maracaibo native," hehe.

Then I left the place and walked towards the Carúpano Municipal Market, which is nearby. On the way, I reflected on how wonderful nature is and the life lessons it teaches us. Undoubtedly, we can act like water at times and, at others, like rock.

There are many tragic stories associated with this rock. From here, some people have jumped into the sea to end their lives, and they have succeeded. No one has survived when they have dared to tempt death from that height. Furthermore, there is a carpet of rocks below, and the sea is very deep.

The rock with its hole also lends itself to Carúpano residents inventing double entendres, full of dark humor. For example, when a boisterous woman got married in a church, people would say:

Oh, poor girl, she's tighter than the rock with the hole.

Furthermore, when a woman doesn't reciprocate a suitor's affection, they tell her:

The rock in the hole is harder than you, and the seawater has seeped inside it.

As you can see, these are sexist and misogynistic phrases that have used the rock in the hole as a symbol of Carúpano identity.

I took advantage of the distance to take another picture of the rock. And I felt moved to see it, majestic, untamed, yet wounded.

From a distance, one might think the "hole" is in the mountain. But it isn't. The hole is in the rock at the very top of the mountain. From my perspective, it also supports the "El Vigía" mountain.

To conclude my participation, I'll share a décima (a ten-line stanza) that Hive account@acostacazorla wrote about this rock the last time he was in town.

In my town there is a rock
At the site of the hole
where the wave crashes
and my heart races
a tunnel that drop by drop
the sea has been forging
and I am singing to it
with my décima of wonder
dear town, I named you
and the sea is chiseling you.