Monday, September 28, 2009
I think it’s Monday. I have no idea. Our schedule is very structured and we don’t need pay attention to minor points like the date.
I’ve done several 1 to 1 interviews and all have been interesting. Today, we branched out into new territory so I sat in on a conference call, participated in a conference call and a person to person call, acted out (no talking) Snow White, and had a small group discussion about a variety of topics. We covered things like: pop music is trash—only classical music lasts (consensus was all music after the ‘80’s –a few exceptions—should be banned); should English be the international language? (we decided Spanglish should be); are football players (soccer) overpaid? (only the lawyer said no); what do you do in a traffic jam (dumb question). I had a personal discussion about the death penalty and handguns. The person was surprised to learn that we don’t use the death penalty often. I guess the impression is that we do it almost daily.
Last night we were all totally exhausted but were asked to attend a ancient Gaelic traditional to ward off evil. Surprising me, there is quite a Gaelic history, with many attempts to remove them from Spain. While many did move to the island, there is still a good number in the north. There was a poem followed by a long, long toast about men and women, ending with ‘drink, drink, drink.’ The ceremony required drinking something that tasted like furniture polish with coffee beans; it was on fire when I got it.
A note about the skits. Groups were assigned a ‘fairy tale’ to act out no words allowed. Our props were limited but somehow we managed to find enough to get our point across. One of the funniest was “Beauty and the Beast” with the Spanish fireman (he looks exactly like Clint) playing the beauty. He dressed in a long blond wig, large breasts, and showing a lot of leg. He hopes the pictures don’t make it to the Internet! Also, one group did “The Wizard of Oz.” I had to explain to them that it is not a fairy tale. It is a true story that happened in Kansas.
Tonight is the ‘party.’ The bar will be open until 3 but I will be surprised if anyone makes it that long. So far, I’ve been in bed by midnight every night and I’m not the first person in. The days are long but pass quickly; everyone says they are very tired.
I hope the Johnny Carino’s dinner goes well.
