Last night I we left Uruguay and arrived in Buenos Aires a little behind schedule. I was starting to really feel the physical effects of touring on both mind and body. While we were at the airport I felt myself slip into some sort of “wide-awake” state of mental blankness as I stared off into nowhere sometimes.
The thought of ending performances in Montevideo, boarding a plane that same afternoon and then getting up early the next morning to begin performing again fatigued me. Add to the stress of travel that fact that my wife and stepson were flying in from the U.S. into a different airport and you’ve got an absolute path to sleeplessness.
After a series of, what I can only call, mishaps with misguided public service workers, we finally made it out of the airport.
The apartment the company is providing me is quaint, kind of cute. It has a loft.
As my head hit the pillow, I was thinking about the students at Kennedy High School in Uruguay. Our session together that day felt much more like ritual than assembly. I start out with a plan but, inevitably, the students guide me in a whole other direction. I know that is the way of ritual. I’m getting better about relaxing into it and appreciating the beauty of the moment.
Most of the youth I’ve encountered are desirous of hearing and experiencing something “real.” I like to think that this is what I bring to the table.
I’m going to blog about my first performance in Argentina in the next blog. I’ll be working with a group of 16 and 17 year olds.
Let’s see how it goes. Let’s see if I can continue to “keep it real.”
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