Hola Amigas y Amigos...

Leg 1

Once again, I am beginning a big summer adventure. At this point, I know that Jacob and I are going to Guatemala to study Spanish for 2 weeks because I booked it today. We are leaving June 6 and returning the 21st. We will fly into Guatemala City, take a 4 hour bus ride to Xela, Guatemala. Last summer on my Mexico/Belize adventure, I met a young woman on Tobacco Caye from the US, but living in Berlin. She told me about Xela (it's official name is Quetzaltenango) and that there were numerous Spanish schools for English speakers there. So, we are going to stay with a Guatemalan family and study Spanish for 5 hours a day...all for $175/week at a school called Pop Wuj. Crazy, huh? However, getting there has proved to be challenging.

I read several travel blogs that said that Chicago had the best rates to Guatemala City. However, a friend told me to check Spirit air out of, are you ready?...Myrtle Beach. And yes, it is as cheap to fly out of Myrtle Beach that it is to fly out of Chicago. But Spirit, or course, charges for EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING. My cheap tickets after they added taxes, fees, baggage fees...and ready for this???!!!!....seat charges ($8 each if you want to sit together) ended up being just a little cheaper than the Chicago flight on American - about $700 for both. Sigh..oh well, it is still a little less challenging than trying to get to Missouri, then Chicago, then Guatemala.

Leg 2

I was asked/I asked the Witte Museum in San Antonio, TX to archive their carpa collection. It will help me with my research and give me experience in archiving, which I'm interested in. I got a research grant to do that from FMU. It is also a great excuse to see some of my couchsurfing buddies that I met last year.

Future legs... Stay tuned. There may be other fabulous legs to our adventure...maybe Mexico, maybe Tahlequah...who knows....

Just a little professora ranting...

So we cast The Vagina Monologues last week with 35, that's right, thirty-five, women. One woman, who has been in the show before twice, as well as had very large roles, emailed me because her role for this year "concerns her." The deal is, she got a smaller role this year because last year: 1. she did not take direction well; 2. she showed up at 7:20p for a 7:30p curtain (that was the big one); 3. she was late to the cast party where she had agreed to perform, thus missing her performance. The moral is: don't piss off the director. And then to have to gall to email me complaining about the role she got....????!!!! She says she's going to grad school. Uh huh...good luck with that, getting out of grad school without pissing off your professors - THAT is the trick....

I need a vacation...

Summer 2010 Adventure

Howdy kids - I'm planning my summer adventure. So far, I think Jacob and I are going to go to Xela, Guatemala for 2 weeks to study Spanish. Then, after Jacob leaves to go stay with his dad, I would like to spend a week in Mexico, at this point either in Puerto Angel or Zipolite Beach. Both are little hippie tourist towns south of Oaxaca. Then, I'm off to San Antonio to archive the carpa collection at the Witte Museum.

Would anyone I know be brave enough to visit Puerto Angel with me? huh huh huh? come on, I triple dog dare you....

Burn Baby Burn....

Burning Man tickets go on sale tomorrow 1pm our time!!!! Weeeeeee!!!!!

Literal doesn't mean literate....

OK, so in Intro to Theatre this semster, I have my students do a final project. They read a play that we have not covered in class and they choose from several options: playwright, actor, designer, publicity, etc. and do that job for the play they choose. Top two plays are: A Raisin in the Sun and Death of a Salesman...ugh...if I never see another project on either of those, I...but I digress... A student did a publicity campaign on A Raisin in the Sun. I ask them to do a short presentation where they tell me what their target audience is and their theme for the campaign (which is supposed to be in line with the director's concept). She got up and said, "my target audience is everyone because everyone should see this play...sigh...whatever. Then she held up her poster. It had a 5-year-old's drawing of a yellow sun, and below the sun was lettering on it for the title, date, time, etc. She said, "well, my theme is, well, there's a sun on it..." I thought good god...yawn, lame... THIS IS NOT THE BEST PART.

After class I was carrying the poster to my office and the graphics design prof and a music prof were standing outside my office. I said sarcastically, "look, this is from my star pupil." The graphics guys goes, "where is the raisin?" The music guy goes, "right there." Ready??!!! She had ACTUALLY DRAWN A RAISIN UNDER THE SUN on the poster. OMG!! If I had seen that in class I would have fallen out of my chair in hysterics. Maybe I'll post a picture one day. I'm so glad I'm on winter break....

Burning Man II, the sequel...

I got the grant for Burning Man 2010. If I can only find a student that wants to go. Can you freakin believe that??!!!! What I wouldn't have given for a chance like that... I'm going if I have to hold a gun to someone's head and force them to go....

French couchsurfer...

I was talking to my friend last night and she scolded me for not blogging about my "bizarre life." She's right. I need to be a little more regular.

About 2 months ago, I got an email from a French couchsurfer that was going to be in South Carolina for an extended stay. He asked if we could get together for drinks. I said sure, but I was directing a play and very busy (sheesh, I had no idea). Then after the play was over, I got the flu or something that is still lingering. So, on the last night before he left for Paris, he emailed me and said that he was cooking dinner for his host and a friend, and would I join them. I asked another couchsurfer that had actually spent some time with him to come along too.

So let me tell you about this guy. He is in his early 30s. Get what he does for a living??!!! He advertises on CraigsList to teach French and cooking. Some rich lady in Bennettsville, SC paid him to teach her French and cooking for 3 months. He cooked for us and words cannot describe it...but it's the kind of cooking that takes 3 hours just to make "a leetle sauce to put on your rice. Eets nuhsssing, really..." It was exquisite. We had whole pears poached in wine for dessert.

Say what you will about the French, and this guy was really French, they don't bathe like we do (I'm not so sure we have to to the extent that we do), they smoke...a lot, they have an attitude (although he did not really, and who cares when he can cook like that), but can they cook??!!! Oh, yes they can. Also, it was so lovely to sit and listen to a Frenchman speak again. At one point he and I were left at the table. We had a lovely chat and he got up to go smoke outside. He said, "my bad habeeet." I said , "Oh, your French..." He laughed and told me in Europe you can't smoke everywhere like you used to be able to. He said, "I like South Carolina. You can smoke anywhere." Sigh.....

The friend of his is also probably in her early 30s. Get what she does for a living?! She cooks on chartered yachts. She also imports and sells Swedish Gustavian antiques (oysterwhite.com). Sheesh...and her home is GORGEOUS! She is Canadian and came to SC to be close to the ocean and I-95 and to find a home that she could afford. So, she ended up in Benettsville. Weird. I felt so, un-South Carolinian. It was fabluous.

All for now. I'm catching up on laundry after the Thanksgiving trip. More later...really....