Post Mexico

It's been quite a while since my last blog. So, here it goes...

After Mexico, Ken and I returned to Seattle. Ken got his job back at MT. I returned to the Seattle Children's Theatre. Also, as soon as I came back, I went back to work on the Vagina Monologues and La Causa. I came to a busy schedule, which I felt blessed!

A few month later and after applying to different jobs, I got a response from La Jolla Playhouse. The Director of Education & Outreach came to see me teach at SCT. I was offered the job as the Education & Outreach Associate. With this offer, I was able to move back to my beloved home, San Diego!

I moved back to San Diego and Ken joined me early this year. Ken got a job at a company close to home, where he is Drafting! Ken and I started saving money for a place, again! This time with the help of our agent and my lovely parents, we were able to put a down payment for a small little house in Paradise Hills.

The greatest thing about moving to San Diego is that I have a nice network of theatre friends.

Recently, a nice opportunity came my way in San Diego. A grant through the San Diego Foundation. I'm currently in the application process. I wont know much about it until mid or end of this month.

More on this... later. Promise.

For now, till next time :)

The Project

Can life really be this difficult and at the same time be so great? I feel that this minor torture will pay off. Mama's Unidas is the first US project which will be great. I know it. Las historias de las madres, que an sufridro. Forcing myself to script write.

Teatro Nundeya is moving along, stronger than what I hoped. Teaching classes, directing and creating! Viva la Raza

New Toy

So, for the past month or so (since ken and i have been back) we have been going over the thought of getting a new car. There are various reason for it, primarily- my car is breaking down. We have researched vehicles to see which is most dependable, spacey and budgeted right. I really wanted a truck, not gonna lie. The thought of knowing I would never need to ask anyone for a favor just made me all bubbly and excited. However, Ken kept on insisting in viewing one specific car which he knew I would love. The Honda Fit. Now, i was unsure of it because it looks very small- oh how deceiving. Not small at all. The inside of the car is very roomy my very tall friends such as Darrin and Usman could fit perfectly in the car, I'm sure. Also, it converts literally in almost a flat bed. All of the sits can be laid down making for much space. The miles seem great 35 to the gallon. And it's very highly rated. The price was a little higher than what I would have wished to have payed but it really seemed worth it for what we are paying.

The car will be use mainly for my work. Driving around Seattle in my old Contour was a hassle because my car was starting to run on its last leg. It made me wonder all the time if I was gonna get stuck in the middle of the freeway with my car. My car is a four cylinder car and it's only running on three. It was my first high school car. I am sad to see it go- kind of. hehe.

I know I could have invested 2,000 dollars to get my car fix. I know I could have made it work if I really wanted to but I feel by having this new car, I am forced to 1. maintain a long lasting job.

Long lasting job- speaking of which, the one thing that motivated to get the car was to begin our business. Now I really do not have an excuse such as; i cant go, it's too far, I cant make it... now I can. I have a great husband, great computer (to get the business going), car... and a lot of motivation...

So, kicking 2010 awesomely....

Update

We are back in the states. We had a great time. I really wanted to blog while we were away but lack of internet made it difficult.

We did a lot of house improvements while in Oaxaca. Ken became really good at laying floor. I assisted as well mixing the concrete and placing the side tiles. We painted the rooms with very bright and colorful colors, we added a ceiling fan to the house-much needed, and we change all the outlets in the house. Despite all the housework we did, Ken and I continued to travel and had loads of fun.

When we arrived to the the US, Ken returned to his job at Mettler Toledo. I think his company was really happy to see him again!

As for me, I came back to two projects, La Causa and The Vagina Monologues. La Causa is a show about a character named Marta Hernandez, who is a migrant farm worker. It takes place in the 60's and this character tells her experiences and encounters with Cesar Chavez. It really is a very good show with a great message! The Vagina Monologues are exactly what the title says, a show about Vagina's and they are all Monologues.

Oh, I'm still also an independent contractor for the Seattle Children's Theatre, so that helps with some bills... thank god for Ken and his job :)

till next time.

Kenny's Blog ;)

Ok so we went last week on our first full week of theater classes. I was going to go with her till she figured out where the suburbans were and what times they ran. Our first week was one class of the little little ones and a class of the little bit older ones. The first preschool class was 5 kids 2 girls and 3 boys not too bad. She normally does an story drama around a books theme, this week was I want to be a lion. Not too scary but after about 5 minutes the 2 little girls got scared about the lion and ran back into the classroom. Ok so we only have 3 little boys still not bad but we had not even gotten to my parts. I was going to be 3 lions that were going to try and help her become a lion since she could not figure out how to do certain liony things. They made it though the first sleepy lion who tried to teach her how to roar but right after that one of the kids dad came by and he had to go. So down to 2 little boys and on to the next lion. This one was a lion who was going to show her how to prowl well half way though showing them how to the oldest little boy decided he wanted to play hide and seek. Of course no one was the seeker so he was just hiding. As soon as the she started to try and do the prowling the last little boy wanted to so back inside and did. The funnest point was when she turned to me and said “Yep we lost them.” She did salvage it by getting the 2 boys back after some coaxing to finish up the story very quickly before we lost them again. She talked to the teacher and they decided to cancel the class for the rest of the week. We were kind of depressed after that thinking that the other class was going to be the same.

The next teacher seemed very laid back so we were worried a bit. We had run though the 3 characters she wanted for this one. An Eskimo, a polar bear and a penguin who all lived in a rain drop that I had frozen. This group was a little shy at first but the warmed up very quick and got the idea of the story we were constructing. It was fun, at first she took them outside and talked to them not sure what about. I was to start crying sitting in a corner, she brought them in and formed a circle and started talking to them. After like 30 seconds she sent them over to find out what happened, all I did was look over to her after they finished talking and see which way she nodded. After like 4 guesses she came over and I whispered into her ear and she acted it out like she wanted to direct the story. She then brought me over to the circle and the story got started. They went to a scientist to figure out how to get into the rain drop, that was fun playing him. When she asked for something I just gave them anything and they made up what it was. It was amazing to see how fast the kid starting just throwing out ideas of what it was and how it worked. At least thats what it seemed like since I was not able to understand them. Once they got the thing to go into the raindrop they called Ken back and wanted me to go with them but I was scared of what they were building. She sat me back on the bench and there happened to be plastic bat so she gave me it for protection. Once they got into the drop I switched to the Eskimo with a red scarf for a hood, it was like 100 deg’s under that scarf but after a little gibberish I showed them something. It would be needed for the final character she would play. After that was the polar bear and it was so cool cause when I started to growl one of the little boys came up to me and started to growl like he understood me. He went back to her and told her in spanish what I said, that was totally cool watching them start to form their own story. I taught them how to swim like a polar bear and sent them on their way. O the costume was a green hat she had at home. Finally it was the penguins turn and he had to show them how to waddle like a penguin. Of course by this time the whole class had caught on that they could direct the story by talking penguin to me and telling her what I told them. It was pretty cool all the times she had them change into what I was in order to get to the next part of the story. Finally they got to the final person and she required them, before she unfroze the raindrop, to be an expert Eskimo, polar bear and penguin. Once they showed her that she did a little bebop and unfroze the raindrop. They headed back to the scientist to change them back to their normal size and call back Ken to the circle. That was pretty much how each day went different characters each day. The really fun part she was saying was half way though the second day they were creating ideas that made the story even better. They even moved the story in the direction she wanted without her even telling them. This group would be one she would use as a model demonstration group. It was an amazing week watching these kid develop out of shyness into idea making machines that could create an airplane helicopter bus bird out of thin air. These kids don’t grow up with much they live in an area that most of the money comes from either farming or renting out fields to graze. Most everyone has a plot of land that came from the splitting up of a large haseninda from the revolution some of them farm it some don’t. Its is pretty much just enough to subside on nothing too big. So even though they don’t have much they still came with such live and energy that it amazed me.

Now for the older kids this was a trimming down week, we started out with 45 last week at the first day. This week it seems to have slimed down to about 15 real kids that want to do this. Its very fun to watch some of the very shy kids come out of their shell, even just over a few days you can tell the difference. She’s been doing some movement exercises this week that um I don’t really know what they are for but that they are fun. Some bubble passing the sound and movement from one person to another, lots of different little exercises that help develop the imagination. Its really cool to see what they do and think of when all they have is a blank slate. Already there have been some serious out of the box thinking.

San Mateo, Etlatongo

Today was the first meeting in San Mateo, Etlatongo. It was such an exhilarating experience. At first, when we first got there I saw a room full of men that were very serious. I gave my powerpoint presentation in black high heel boots, and a dress--totally over dressed. However, once I felt over dressed and got past the sweaty moments I brought forward my project. I explained to them the three projects I have in mind; Cuentitos (Story Drama), Talleres Imaginativos (Dramatic Imagination) and Cartelera (Original Works). I explained what my expectations were and what I am asking for. I got no response from them, not a nod, a smile... NOTHING. I had no idea wether they were liking the project or not. Once I was done, I had a slide that said “Preguntas?” Any questions? At first nobody talked but then the Municipal President stated how great he thought the project was. He said they will give me an answer by wednesday if the project is a “go” on their municipal. Afterwards all of the people that form his cabin stated how great the project sounded and that they feel very proud to have a Oaxacan come back and give to the community. It felt GREAT!!! When we were done with the presentation we got in the car ready to leave. However, the summoned us back, they had prepare some “Tortas” (Mexican Sandwiches). We talked a little more and they are very excited. I am so proud!

I am also very thankful that Amilkar brought us here. He took time off from work to get us here. It’s about an hour away from Oaxaca City... “thank you Amilkar!” We have a few more projects to present and I am grateful for what he is doing for us.

Kenny was my assistant projector, he helped me with my powerpoint presentation. It has been a great day today.

Chalcatongo weekend

K: So her Uncle and Aunt Tere invited us out to Chalcatongo for the weekend and since its so nice out there we decided to go. Really we had nothing else planned so it was something to do. We stayed the night at their place so we could get an early start around like 11 am, heh that is early when you have breakfast and everyone showers. The ride out is so much fun I’ve probably already told you about how twisty and windy the road are out here, it’s the only way they could build it with all the extremely steep and deep gullies. The ride from Tlaxiaco to Oaxaca is much better, it’s mostly flat but there are some twisty parts. There is only one place I’ve seen signs that say sharp corner ahead since I’ve got here, so you know its really sharp and a very long drop if you miss it. The drive out there is about 4 hours if you don’t get stuck behind a parade when your going through one of the towns, like we did on our way back. We could not see much besides all the people walking to the towns center to beat the band that was in front of us. Besides that there is not much to tell about the drive out or back, I’m starting to learn the landmarks along the way, which virgin’s shrine is how far from Chalcatongo, that the 3 people that died on the road with the big cement shire and cross is just like 30 min’s out of town. Things like that are very interesting to see the life that sits on such a hard land where they have carved out a living in dirt only a few inches deep before it hits bed rock. There are lot of places along the road where it is only 3-6 inches before it becomes uplifted rock, you know the angled lined rock. We got there in the afternoon on friday since both Karen and Uncle G were off on friday and her Aunt is retired. We bought some junk food for the way up and I learned a very good lesson- mexicans do not like chocolate, the two bars I got were powder which means they were sitting for a while. I guess I’m sticking to chips and getting adjusted to sour and spicy candy o well hehe. We got there pretty much in time for dinner, they have dinner early since the sun sets around 7-8 all year long and rises around 6-7. There is only a hour or so change the entire year so when it gets dark it gets dark here. We slept over at her aunt Naty’s we have always slept, its calmer over there, I am still adjusting to hopping beds every few days. That saturday they planed to go to a waterfall near the town ( http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=16.845522,-97.58132&z=15&t=h&hl=en or search for “Cascada Yosondua” in goggle earth) and have lunch there. That Saturday morning her uncle Necho and G along with one of Necho’s sons went on a little tour of the lands her family owns. It was fun driving along the dirt roads to a panoramic view of Chalcatongo, we went past a few of the areas her family owns and even her grandpa’s old factory that he made very good organic Aguardiente (the local drink). Its kind of sad its not made the way he made it any more, it takes too much time but his way made a better drink, much better.

M: We went to see the the old factory, which really made me very sad and depressed because there were holes in the ceiling, empty bottles, old cods, and no maintenance, whatsoever. I recently found out that piece of land has been inherited to my father, I wonder if he will do something with it? The weekend at Chalca was a lot of fun, both days (cascade day & factory tour day) we played volleyball with Misa, Tonito, Julio, Karen, Ken and I. It was a blast! On our way back, we stayed at Tia Tere’s again to avoid taking a taxi home late at night. Today, we are celebrating Amilkar’s 27th birthday! Oh what fun.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to La Casa de La Cultura and schedule an appointment to begin our “working” life here.