What a way to travel! Gotta love it. Thanks Dreamtime, for letting me tag along again. (Wish I were still with them, too, as the story continues with gusto; in Lima, they're performing in an arts festival for audiences of nigh on a thousand people and even making it on TV, so I hear.) My week with Dreamtime this time looked a bit like this:
Day one: We arrive in a tiny village called Coya (or Qoya, depending on which billboard you look at; this goes for Cusco and Cuzco, too, which in Quechua is actually Qosqo, and Pisac or Pisaq... I believe it's a discrepancy between Spanish and Quechua, and so the compromise is to haphazardly alternate between various spellings). We immediately check in to our free accommodations chez Loco, which consist of a handful of rooms in various states of construction, one cold-water bathroom between thirteen circus members and five or six family members (must admit there were so many kids running around I don't have an exact head count). I held the video camera, audio recorder, and Nikon D40 the whole time as the circus lead about thirty community kids in hoola hooping, acrobalance, poi, and juggling workshops and painted all of their aggressively eager faces. (When I was painting faces I, too, had to learn to say "Ninos!! Mas espacio por faVOR!" as those who were waiting wouldn't leave you room to move your elbow, or breathe.) The show, which I guess I saw about six times in total, is adorable and funny and entertaining, for the adults as well as the kids: first a playful quasi-narrative with colorful characters, conflicts, and non-fire circus acts, then a showcase of these San Franciscans' true colors: sexy, riveting, well-choreographed and at times pretty mind-boggling fire dancing, with poi, staff, hoola hoop, swords, torches, fire fingers, and even a fireball and chain.
Day two: Casa de Milagros, an American-run orphanage at the end of a rubble-filled road that had had to be evacuated during the major floods in the Valle Sagrado that devastated entire towns and villages, tore through bridges, and demolished homes and schools. The only damage that made any amount of news was the plight of the stranded tourists in Machu Picchu, of course. But in any case, most of my experience of the Valle Sagrado was when it was back to some sense of normality, and this beautiful orphanage was no exception -- garden, waterfall, mosaics, and love, lots of love.
Day three was San Pedro; day four the show was in Huaran, another tiny town along the river. For reasons unbeknownst to me this one was attended by a Peruvian circus as well as the typical crop of little kids. There were about fifteen of them, all dreadlocked and earlobe-stretched, pretty similar in age and arty-punk style to Dreamtime (to watch the two groups flirt after the show was disarmingly cute).
Day five: Urubamba, at Arco Iris (this means rainbow, I learned long after the fact, though with all the imagery everywhere at the school you'd think I could have figured it out), a school for children with developmental disorders. It was harder to paint their faces, but in some ways, more rewarding. One girl who resembled a boy wanted dragons everywhere, all over her face, and her arms, and her hands. Just as soon as I finished one she'd frown a little and point to a new scrap of vacant flesh and say fiercely, "DraGON!" The evening show at Arco Iris was extremely satisfying, as scores of kids from scores of schools in the area turned out, as well as their families, and the adults were as enthralled as the children were (I have video footage to prove it).
Overall, there's nothing like being part of the Joy Train. Everyone who participated in the workshops and saw the show was impressed, excited, jubilant, you name it. It's a rare gift to see such a thing pass through town -- and not only pass through town, but teach you how to juggle and paint a dragon on your face.
Stay tuned for an audio slide show. It might take me a few months to get the software together, but I did some interviews and tons of background recording; I'm on it.
For more blog posts by Sara, please go here.
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