12.24.08 Surprise Christmas Eve in Colombo, Guatemala
by Summer Shapiro
We woke up in the mountains of Guatemala to the smell of sulfur, near a natural hot spring and far from Patricia. For those of you who don’t know, Patricia (our magical school bus) was parked in Colombo, Guatemala yesterday because she was overheating so much we couldn’t take her into the mountains to get to our community project in Xela. Now, separated from her and ready to return we sat on the side of a mountain waiting for 2 vans to come and pick us up.
In the meantime, we had recently become aware that back in Colombo, Patricia was parked outside of Colombo’s municipal building, being guarded by armed men, and once we got back we were to fulfill the request of the alcalde (city mayor): to perform a world class clown show for the entire city as part of the Christmas Eve banquet he was preparing for 2,000 towns people.
We sat there on the side of the mountain waiting for our ride and aware that our current show needed a revamp to be ready for a show of this magnitude. We quickly assembled in the parking lot we were squatting in and held a meeting. We created teams to revamp and develop our show. The dance team went straight to work on a new routine and Tod and Weldboy created a new Mexican wrestling act. Once the vans arrived we made sure to sit with our teams and during the hour drive our stage manager and director, Alison, came up with a comprehensive show order and Ryan and I developed new clown material in the back seat. This experience has been such a typical TEMA adventure: we meet a local, this time it was the major of a town we had no plans of going to, they request something from us, and within the little time we have, we complete the projects we already had planned and we completely redevelop a show. It seemed like a tall order in such a short period of time, but after a news station came to interview Ryan yesterday about the project we couldn’t resist… well, it’s almost a rule that if we can make a difference we don’t resist.
So we arrive in Colombo, the kitchen team gets on cooking for the bus, people gather their costumes, make up, musical instruments, and we get into the huge cement hall where the show will be held. People start transforming the space with the huge flag Morgan (our lovely musician from Cornwall, England) handcrafted with his father to bring on this trip, candles, objects from our alter are added. All the teams got to work on their acts and the echoes we made through the hall drew a large crowd at the back door. If you can imagine what we must have looked like to them: a bunch of strangely dressed, loud, music playing, dancing, yelling, and especially eccentric (Ryan and I were developing new clown material) crowd of international, different colored, young people, in a huge hall. Honestly, we are quite used to standing out at this point. We’re actually very keen at using this quality to make a difference, to surprise people with our commitment to connecting with them, to asking if they need help, to picking up trash, to joking with the federales and policia (military), and constantly bringing light where ever we go. The truth is, we stick out and we stick out loud. We may as well use it for good. And we always say thank you when we shower under the gas station hose. ☺ We are a crew of smiling, caring, unleashed ragamuffins, who say that it is our job to be a contribution to others through our words, our eyes, our actions, and our self expression.
The mayor came to us and said, “I need 3 clowns to come with me to give out gifts to a nearby town.” Ulisses jumped in his clown jacket and grabbed his juggling clubs. I whipped out my make up and did a classic whiteface do on Katie and a auguste do on Adam. With the mayor, they got in a car that had gifts strapped to the top and were off. Once they returned we heard that the town was very poor and teaming with kids. It turns out that the major didn’t just want people to come and give out gifts, but for people to do a show for the kids. Ulisses stepped up on the itty bitty (so small barely even a stage) where he was swarmed by children and did a clown show completely improvised. When it was time to give out the gifts it was a mad house, the children were lethal with each other when it was time to get presents. This town was very poor and these kids would stop at nothing to get uno regalo (a gift). It was hard to hear about the scarcity for these children and the lifestyle for them is very different for us. It gives me a lot to be grateful for and motivation to make a difference in places where I couldn’t.
When Ulisses, Katie, and Adam returned it was time for the big show. The auditorium filled with families and a gorgeous band played, with a few older men and a few boys about 9 or 10 years old. They all had matching Hawaiian shirts… hm. The only connection I can see between Colombo, Guatemala and Hawaii is the tendency for hot nights even in late December…
On this hot Christmas Eve, this Noche Buena calienté, a couple senoritas waved us over to some huge buckets. When we got there we saw they were brimming with piping hot tamales wrapped in banana leaves and a huge bin of bread rolls. They showed us how to unwrap the banana leaves and serve the tamale on a plate with a roll of bread. We went to work. We filled a 3’ by 6’ wooden pallet with tamales on plates and then hit the crowds with it. Each pallet was emptied in just a few moments and was brought back to be filled again and again. The tamales were so hot in the banana leaves that I was practically throwing them on to their plates so not to burn my fingers. We were all in our costumes and make up doing this so we could run to the stage whenever someone said it was time. There I was squatting in green and purple tights, hot pink pointed pumps, a huge billowing tutu, and wrapped in a bright red and black stripped bunch of fabric. My hair was high and the lipstick was red. I never knew I would have the opportunity to slang so many tamales while squatting among senoritas bonitas in the most ridiculous get up. Some how it felt perfectly normal and my heart sang with joy to do so – this was the best Christmas Eve ever and such an honor to be able to feed an entire city, even if it did burn my fingers.
I was having such a lovely time of serving tamale after tamale after tamale that I barely noticed the call to go backstage. The show was about to begin. The Hawaiian shirted band finished and el alcalde stepped on stage. He spoke at length, we were all leaning in to listen for our cue. Finally, we heard him announce us and he exited the stage. We were off. We had an energetic show. We threw in as much audience participation as we could. Each time Ryan and I jumped into the audience, whether it was to pick an audience volunteer or chase each other through the crowds, the kids squealed with delight and feigned terror. The parents laughed and spread smiles across their faces. Oh, what a blessed gift it was to give.
The show went on with dancing, music, a faux contortion act by yours truly, Ryan and Summer, and Ulisses and Treasure fire spinning. The Mexican wrestling act went over so well. Imagine an audience of Guatemalan families watching two very large, very white men doing really huge fake wrestling moves. We ended with a finale of everyone coming out and singing “Mi vida, mi vida, mi vida es perfecta”, an original song written by our resident musicians Morgan and Shelley. We danced through the audience picking up people’s hands and dancing with the crowd. Vinicio spoke to the group about our mission to make a difference and thanked everyone for giving us the opportunity to contribute to them. We continued singing and dancing and took a sweet little bow.
After the show ended there was more to be done. There were a couple hundred extra tamales, still hot, and begging for someone to eat them. We hit the streets with the mayor’s niece and ran around to groups of kids, families, people in the back of trucks, people on motorcycles, bicycles, people gathered on street corners, people out for a Noche Buena stroll. We handed out as many tamales as we could as fast as we could and it still took ages to do it. It was so fun to yell “TAMALES!!!” “TAMALES GRATIS!!!” (“FREE TAMALES!!!”) and run through the streets while bombas were exploding. (Bombas = Christmas Eve fire works). Even the littlest of kids had the loudest exploding fireworks. There were some that were only a big bang sound. The kids loved running up to you and setting them off right behind your back. We ran through the streets giving plates piled high with food while bangs and lights rang out around us. The mayor kept pushing punché (hot cider and rum) on us as the night came to a close. We happened to find ourselves standing in a circle at the end of the night, little bangs still ringing out. We shared what we were grateful for and reveled in a day well spent.
We went to bed contented and exhausted. I am grateful for the best Christmas Eve ever.
Love and light,
Summer Shapiro
