I remember being in Peru in 1991 on what turned out to be a one and a half year stay in South America that saw me visit countries such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador but it was during my stay in Lima that I discovered the television program ?NubeLuz?. I don't recall the exact day but it was on a Saturday morning in the month of September that I turned on the television to what appeared to be a television show for toddlers called ?Nube Luz?.



As for the show itself it had nothing that I had not seen before in others of the sort; including children playing games, songs written with simple sing-along lyrics and music that one could hum, and of course the never absent colorful backdrop of flowers and all that makes a stage cheerful for those whose numbered years can still be displayed by one digit. Perhaps if one thing was original it was that the show had a language of its own were the hostesses were called ?Dalinas? while the boys were called ?Nubetores? and the girls were called ?Nubecinas?. This plus other silly expressions which though meaningless such as ?Grantico Palman and Zum? or ?Glufico? helped to add to the playful atmosphere.

In all this however there was something new and refreshing and that being the two young ladies who hosted ?NubeLuz?. One of them being a young woman from Argentina of Russian descent whose name was Almendra Gomelsky and her co-hostess; Monica Santa Maria. Monica Santa Maria was born in Peru to a Peruvian father and a Canadian mother. Monica also like Almendra was in the last year of her teenage life when she was hired by Peru's ?Pan Americana Television? to host ?NubeLuz?.

With regards to Monica and Almendra; they were truly beautiful in every way from the perfect features that made up their faces to their bodies that moved with those songs they danced to but this magnificence which they displayed was one of amusement to children rather then being one of sexuality or an attempt at self idolatry which many a hostess engages in. Their grace it could be stated was one that combined feminine charm along with a lighthearted beauty of innocence that was not coquette but full of that spirit of life that was contagious to all and to me as well. I even made it a point catch the show on TV as often as I could while I was down in South America and on one occasion after having stood on line for three hours managed to get tickets which forced me to get up at five am to get to the studio on time. This being that the show started at eight am and it was advised to be on the spot at least one hour before.

By Monica's and Almendra's beauty I also have in mind that they had the looks of two young ladies whose sensitivity came through in a way that was pleasing to those whom they set out to entertain. This they accomplished not only by being attractive but displaying in their eyes the youth that was in them combined with what one could see was a legitimate love for the children they played with.

However in all this it was not only their beauty but a dedication to what they did as one could see that Monica and Almendra were there for those children who appeared on that show and treated them as such and not as if the children were there for their benefit, only to prop up their own image but they to make the children feel special at least for the three hours that the show lasted. I while watching Monica and Almendra in action even got the impression that the children who they played with saw them as ?two big sisters? with whom they truly could be themselves with and not feel the shyness that they were talking to a TV hostess but somebody who was for their joy.

Personality wise Monica and Almendra were very similar in both having tremendous supplies of enthusiasm and energy which in them seemed boundless as they would play and get as worked up as did their children however in a rough way it could be said that Monica was the more ?mischievous? of the two while Almendra was the more ?affectionate?. Perhaps this would be over simplifying it but this was one of the few differences that was apparent to the eye or at least mine. As for myself personally I never got to meet either of them though I did encounter Almendra on two occasions, one of them being while as a photographer covering a fashion show of which she was a featured guest. My stay in Peru held some interesting times for me which I must say ranged from having to put out with daily eight hour water and power shortages to the sound of terrorists bombs going off, one of them almost claiming me as a victim but the show ?NubeLuz? was amongst those that I would consider the nicest.

I left South America at the start of 93 and have not been back since however it was with a sense of loss that I received the news that I got from an acquaintance of mine from Argentina (?NubeLuz? was shown in every Latin American country) that Monica Santa Maria in the month of March 94 succeeded in her third attempt at suicide. It was a gun which she used to shot herself in the head much like Kurt Cobain of the Seattle band ?Nirvana? who followed suit about a month after. Suicide was her way out of the problems which had plagued her and her boyfriend though who can really say what prompts a person to take their own life. In Monica's case following in the footsteps of even some historical and fictional females like Cleopatra, Madame Butterfly, Portia (wife of Brutus), Floria Tosca (from the opera Tosca) and perhaps even Marilyn Monroe.

Monica Santa Maria had always seemed so carefree on ?NubeLuz?; as if glee radiated from her so strongly to her infant fans who saw nothing but kindness and playfulness from her which manifested themselves through the unforgettable expressions she performed with her eyes, hands and gestures. It was ?NubeLuz? which she so masterfully co-hosted as to give perhaps the false impression that problems was the last thing in the world she had as hers was beauty, youth, success in her career, the adoration of her infant public and yet in all this something was missing which to her meant more then all that she did have. One never really knows about the happiness of others as all one can do is speculate though perhaps it was this lack in Monica's life that made her feel all the more the elation of playing with all those children and greeting them on her show the way she did with so much affection as if she as hostess of ?NubeLuz? was able to give to others what she had not been able to get for herself and that of being joy.