Hot, hot, and sweaty
Been awhile since I have written…..I will try to make this blog a greater priority in my life, I promise:)
Today we did a “test performance” of our piece we created. It went quite well actually. It’s come a long way. There are some definite funny moments. There’s a very nice change of mood in the play when Arad comes on wooing and waltzing with a cake. There are definitely several moments that need work, but for working with some people who have never had experience in acting whatsoever, I am very impressed at what has been accomplished.
Tabitha and I have been spending every night for the last week at Nathan’s. I admit, I am not fond of the dorms. It feels like a hotel at Nathan’s. We’ve been playing lots of cards- Spades and Blitz. Last night we had a killer game. Tabitha & I were over 200 pts behind Nathan and Zhandos. Tabitha decides to go “blind nil” and did it. We ended up TIED to the guys 495 to 495! (and we were playing to 200). Talk about right out of the movies. i wish I could end this story by bragging of our victory, but unfortunately it was real life, and did not end so perfectly. In any case, it was a GREAT game. Tabitha, Zhandos, and i have been playing Blitz- a game that’s sorta like solitaire but CRAZY and chaotic. It is a game I have grown up playing, so (in no attempt at humility) I am pretty good. I hate losing that game, and get sinfully excited when I win. Yes, I definitely need to work at being humble when I play that game. My dad can vouch for that!
As of now, we are leaving for the tour July 8th for Baku. That’s when the real fun begins! I think our little group’s going to have alot of fun.
Oh- we also watched some awesome lightning the other night! Okay, gotta go- Tabitha is whining how hungry she is! haha:)
Well….this is my first ever blog! I've always stayed away from "blogging" because I feel uncomfortable having my words being open to the world….not because I feel strange if strangers know my business, but because I feel the pressure to sound eloquent, like a writer that is worthy of writing her own blog.
With that being said, I'll let go of that little insecurity and do as I am told.
As a general statement, I am very happy to be here in Kazakhstan working with Nathan and KELT. After meeting people and going to a "KELT party", I have a much clearer understanding of the work Nathan has been doing the last five years…..and I am impressed. Basically, he has begun the first English-speaking theater company in Kazakhstan. It's a great community of people (both young and old) that he has been working with.
At the five year anniversary party last week, everyone who has been involved with the company was invited, and it was just so cool to see this mix of Bible believers and theater people. There seems to be a pretty strong Xian "M" community here, and it seems that most of them have acted in Nathan's plays! So neat! And there seems to be some real talent here too!
Last week we began rehearsing for our tour. When Nathan had emailed me about a month ago and said that he wanted to do Commedia, I thought God had a sick sense of humor. It just so happened that I had a whole semester of Commedia in grad school last fall, and it was the class I struggled with the most in all three years of grad school. Basically, I was THE worst in the class at it. Many of my classmates loved it, and decided to create their own Commedia show this past spring. Being the "fighter" that I am, I decided to join the group only to force myself to face my struggle and attempt to overcome it. We rehearsed for 2 hrs twice a week, and I dreaded each rehearsal. Improvement was nowhere in sight, and I was getting sick of "sucking". People who were supposed to be really enthused about the work weren't showing up or coming late, so I decided that was my way out. I am not a quitter, and felt really bad backing out, but for once I did something I felt was best for me, rather than worrrying about what others would think. It was the best decision I made all semester. And NOW I was being told I would be doing Commedia all summer.
Trying to cover up my hatred and sound compentent in Commedia, I told Nathan that I had a WHOLE semester of Commedia, Nathan, then asked me to teach the group when I came. I was already quite fearful of the unknown of the trip to Kazakhstan (as well as dealing with leaving my 11 classmates and amazing friends of three years, still dealing with having my heart broken for the first time, and absolutely clueless about where my life would take me after Kazakhstan)…………the fear of doing Commedia (no less TEACHING it) only added to all the fear and stress I was already attempting to deal with.
ALL that drama being said……….once again, God has come through. He has been teaching me over and over just to TRUST in Him. Not to worry, to trust. For the first time, I am actually having fun with Commedia. I think my teacher, Ralph, would laugh at the irony of this whole situation. But it is actually the best thing for me. I have wanted greatly to improve at Commedia, and that was just impossible anymore with my classmates.
But here, I feel no pressure to "be good" or "be funny", and I have been much more relaxed, and yes, even funnier. I was lucky if I could get half a chuckle out of my classmates in class. I am learning how to be more simple with my choices, and am becoming much more comfortable with the characters. Teaching the others Commedia went much better than expected. And no, God, I did not need to stress out as much as I did.
We are also teaching a week-long theater camp to "tweens" I guess you now call them. I have always felt much more comfortable teaching college students (b/c that's all I've ever taught), but today I believe was the BEST class I have ever taught. It was the first time I ever got "teacher's high" (teachers- is that a real term?) I did an exercise that I have done with all my classes and it never went as well as today. My students never got so much out of it as these 12 year-olds did! They made wonderful observations and I never once had a problem getting someone to talk. Several always had a comment to make about each small performance today. Then when asking what they learned, they were saying practically profound statements. They were all engaged, and were coming up with suggestions to make each person's scene more clear. I was so impressed and just plain happy. So I have been experiencing joy from things I did not expect! I guess that's how the Lord works.
Our rehearsals have been fun. We finally have a solid story to work from. Improving like we have has been great for me. I don't have much experience with improv, so it's great practice for me. We started beating out the scenes yesterday and working the beats of the scene. This is proving to be a challenge and a long process that we don't really have time for. I think we have a looonng way to go, but we also have a loonnng train ride next week (52 hours). At least we'll have something to do.
I haven't commented on our team. There will be 8 of us altogether, and it is diverse in all areas– in ethnicity, age- from the old (Nathan) to sophmore's in college, and experience. It's the first time I've worked in a team this diverse in all those areas. It's a challenge in some ways, but has been really neat as well. The people are very, very sweet.
The one girl Golla, is probably the most loving person I've ever met. She would bend over backward for anyone. She says that she is always happy unless a family member or a friend is ill. From what I have seen of her, that is entirely true. There's Dias who speaks the least amount of English. He's therefore the most quiet, but has a wonderful attitude and is so willing and eager to learn. Then there's Zhandos who speaks perfect English and hardly even has an accent. He is a believer which is cool, and has been in several of Nathan's plays. The newbie to KELT is Irad who is Iranian. You can tell he is a romantic at heart, he's a perfect gentleman, and very sensitive. He has never acted before….so diving right into commedia is a huge challenge. But sometimes he suprises us with some great improvs. He's good with using his body. Lastly, there's Tabitha- the "other" American. We get along great which I am very thankful for. It's been really fun getting to know her.
I've been having a great time so far, but I think the real adventure begins with the train trip. I haven't had to go without a hot shower or pee in an outhouse yet. Even though I have to take a flashlight into the toilet everytime in our less than luxurious dorm, I am counting my blessings.
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