Gringuisimo Play

After six years of hibernation, I made my grand return to the stage on Monday. I played the grumpy old water bottle in the Peace Corps drama La vida de la basura "The Life of Garbage." It is a short, educational drama focusing on the differences between organic/inorganic garbage and the importance of recycling. The play features different pieces of garbage discussing how they feel about being thrown away by humans. My character is the antagonist. Turned bitter over 80 years of sitting by the side of the road with nothing to do, he has pledged to take vengeance on humanity by spreading illnesses like dengue, diarrhea, and amoebas. Here is the first scene of La vida de la basura:

In the second act, the Peace Corps Volunteer separates all of the trash and takes the recyclable pieces to the recycling center. The grumpy old piece of plastic is the first to go through the recycling center and he emerges as a shiny new plastic cup....and scene. The play ends and hopefully the kids learned a little about trash management. Unfortunately we don't have the second act on video, but it was a hit with the students.

Culture of Yucuaiquin Video

I just found this great video from the Cultural Center in my community. The video provides a basic profile of my community and features the Director of the Cultural Center discussing the local traditions in Yucuaiquin. It is in Spanish so get out your Spanish-English dictionaries and enjoy.

Crimson tide

Tomorrow, March 2nd, will officially mark my 5 months left in Peace Corps. I have been a terrible blogger up to this point but I'm determined to pick up the pace for these last few months. My goal is to write something, however short it may be, at least twice a month, so here I go...

Last Saturday I went to the Cultural Center's rehearsal for the youth theater group. I watched four teenagers practice Marea roja by Sacha Barrera Oro. The play is...interesting. The drama is a series of non-linear monologues from a dysfunctional family; brother and sis are lovers, dad is abusive, and mom is distant. The monologues are filled with contrived, overly figurative language, such as this gem spoken by the Dad:

"It's true my dear...Of course birds don't fly just to migrate from one season to the next. They do it to change their skin in the air and of course...to lose weight at the same time. I already told you once how vipers do the same in the water."

It's not what I would have chosen to perform, but the youth were dedicated to it and I loved every minute of the rehearsal. Watching the kids give themselves to their characters and become someone new reaffirmed my love for theater. I'm excited to go again next week.