Preparations have already begun for our Farewell Show!
Although it's still three and a half weeks away, we've already begun preparing for our farewell show, which we'll be presenting to host families in the auditorium of our school the evening of our final Friday in Ciudad Real. Between ourselves and the students, we have come up with the idea of a time-traveling Don Quixote, who comes to the modern day and has to make his way around a world filled with strange new monsters and adventures.
To start out, let's first take a quick look at some sports. This week, we played volleyball, soccer, and (of all things) jacks.
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After about thirty minutes, we took a water break from volleyball and I got the chance to take some pictures.
Meanwhile, others were still hard at play.
Jessica had gathered a group around her to play jacks. Admittedly it is starting to get hot in the early mornings, but it was only 76 or so Fahrenheit when we left, so it wasn't too bad.
A brief break for water, then off to classes!
And then off we went, down the street to the colegio to start our day of classes. We have sports every Wednesday morning, starting a little early (at 9:30 :-) ) to take advantage of the cool morning air.
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We are working in three groups for the Farewell Show. First up, let's take a look at those in the theater group who will doing the acting for the show. Among our actors, we have a narrator, a Don Quixote, a Sancha, and various others who play the role of themselves, students with IUHPFL who chat with Quixote in Ciudad Real, and various denizens of the city.
On the screen is the script we put together in groups. It's mostly finished, but it's still transforming with revisions as the actors practice and begin learning their lines.
I don't think this was acting here. The actors can at times get a little lost in their roles, which leads to moments of humor and, possibly what is shown below, exasperation.
Paulina volunteered for the role of Sancha, our female version of Sancho Panza, who gets to be sarcastic and humorous in the face of Don Quixote's earnest confusion.
Enrique volunteered to take the role of Quixote, and will be wandering across the stage with an umbrella for a sword, and (I believe) a pot for a helmet. We'll see how that role develops in the next few weeks.
Amusement at the performance of our actors!
I wandered in to take pictures and caught this emotional scene without context -- for some reason, there was a scene involving fake crying. I suppose we will have to wait for the show to figure out why.
In the most recent meeting, the actors read ahead in the script, figuring out how they would build the scene that the various groups had developed.
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Next up, Jessica's group, which was working on the music for the show. Between two pianos, borrowed from host families, and Jessica's guitar, we'll have some good background music to add to the voices of our singers!
This was, I believe, the first meeting when the students were selecting their first song, figuring out what sort of mood needed to be set in the scene (and what would be easy to memorize).
To the side, Tadeo and Jacobo discuss meeting up to practice the music on the piano Tadeo's family has here in Ciudad Real.
Ann, returning Jessica's guitar after practice. No one had heard her enter, and I managed to capture the moment as everyone turned around to see the origin of the noise (namely, setting the guitar on the table). She looked a bit surprised herself.
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Finally, our dance group. Sofia and Ryann have taken the lead in suggesting and directing moves -- although Juan is there to provide feedback and an authentic Spanish perspective when it comes to song selection.
The first song the students were designing a dance for, Paquito el chocolatero, is a well-known soccer song, played after winning a game to celebrate.
Juan was playing the role of Quixote here, who will be surrounded by the dancers after Spain wins the World Soccer Cup (at least in the play).
The other song, Amigos para siempre (Friends Forever), is a cheerful tune that will play as Quixote meets his Dulcinea (the woman he pledges to protect in the story, despite never having spoken a word to her).
Sofia and Ryann, suggesting the next move that they will dance, a sort of double twirl/spin move (in which each person spins each other various times, and looks like it would make me a little dizzy).
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That's all for today. Tomorrow morning, we'll be leaving at 9am from Ciudad Real for Granada, and expecting to arrive around noon. We'll spend the next three days in the city and on the beach in Torre Molinos, a town just south of Málaga. Be sure to keep an eye out for updates on that trip by the end of this weekend, or at the start of next week!
All the best, -M