I Have a New Blog

Thanks to NYU, I have a new blog site. Please bookmark my new one as I probably won't be updating this one as much. It's called Student in the Teachers' Lounge and it's about my experiences at NYU and student teaching. Here's the link.

http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/lld235/sitl/

Please check it out and feel free to comment. Thanks y'all!

First Day in Brazil

Well, we finally made it to Brazil! It was a very long flight but luckily I slept most of the way and Stephanie and I got to sit together. At one point I woke up at 4:30am and tried to watch Pretty in Pink on my laptop but just gave up and went back to sleep. Ha ha.

Tonight we met with Augusto Boal and some of his cohorts. He was so lovely and charming and inspiring to look at. It was kinda crazy to be in his presence after all this studying of him and his work. Then he organized a mini-concert for us of a group of local musicians. They played traditional samba and bossa nova for us and it was really great. At the end of the night we all learned a traditional dance and had a great old time, cheered, laughed, bonded a little bit.

I have a few pictures so far. More to come. This is the view from our hotel window. It's of the favelas, as you can probably tell. The other photos are of the Brazilian musicians. More to come soon!

London Pics

This is a shot of me in Brighton in front of the Royal Pavillion - a very beautiful place as you can see.


This is me and Tyson drinking at Unicorn Theatre reception. At this point we were all so tired that we couldn't even drink.


This is a pic of me and Lisa in the flower gardens across the street from the Welsh House. It was one of the few sunny moments in London.


This is a pic of Team New York at Hampstead School with Sian Morrison, amazing teacher, looking over my left shoulder. Also in the pic are Laura Lee, Helen, Donna, Jeffrey and teachers Allison and Kim.

At Long Last, a New Post

When I was studying in London, my schedule did not allow me to do any blogging. In fact, I BARELY had time to sleep. It was really that demanding. And since I've been back in New York, I've avoided doing a posting because I thought 'oh geez, what will I write to do it justice?' But I'm ready for the challenge now and I will be brief.

Basically the London experience was one of the most demanding and fantastic things I have ever done. At times I was euphoric, at times completely depressed. It was, as they say, a rollercoaster. The good thing is that I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a teacher and I'm ready to begin my second year of grad school.

We saw about a million shows in London, and many of them were not very good. But I'll talk about the good ones. Billy Elliott, Macbett (by Ionesco), Sombrero and Saint Joan were my favorites. I don't think I could pick a favorite between those because they were all so different and so amazing. One unifying thing was that they all utilized aspects of physical theatre that I find fascinating. Well, maybe not Billy Elliott, but that show had dancing kids - what more do you need?! Saint Joan was SO RAD, and if it comes to New York, I hope people will go see it. Macbett in Stratford-upon-Avon was my first true experience with theatre of the Absurd, and I loved it. It was hilarious, irreverent, and totally frightening. Sombrero was just indescribable. I love the French!

I taught with a fabulous group of colleagues at Hampstead School in London. The few days I spent there were some of the most education-packed days of my life. As my mentor Sian says, student teaching is a bit like being stripped naked and laughed at. The experience was difficult but absolutely worth it.

I'll post a few pictures on the next post. Enjoy.

Yes the Internet is Broken

So, I will write more soon.

Ugh. Am tired and overwhelmed by the work here but it's amazing and I'm learning a TON!!

Cheers.

Settling In

Today was very relaxing and I didn't do all that much. Finished another book for school that was pretty bland (as my friend Lisa had warned). I did go up to Camden Town for a little while to sell records. I made just enough for the drinks I had later on so it was perfect. Camden reminded me a little too much of Haight Street or the St. Mark's in the East Village. But I got to check out some really cool record stores so that was fun.

I went to Pie's store today in Islington. It was really cool and they sell lots of cute things. It is kind of like that store Therapy in SF. I saw this sort of rubber radio and freaked out for it. Wish I could get it. :(

The highlight of the day was watching the Glastonbury footage on the BBC tonight. They showed Rufus Wainwright's and Arcade Fire's concerts in their entirety. They were super super good, especially Arcade Fire. It REALLY made me want to see them live asap. Hopefully I can do that. I also really love their new songs and wish I had put that on my IPod before coming over here. Sigh...

Tomorrow is my powerhouse writing day for this stupid paper. I absolutely must bang it out by 6pm tomorrow because I'm running out of time.

Upcoming fun: watching Grindhouse tomorrow night - a bootleg copy Pie bought off some Thai dude tonight; Lezzy-oke on Sunday night. (that's karaoke with lezzies) I'm sure to blow the doors off the place.

Cheerio!

Welsh Rarebit, the Rosetta Stone and Peter Pan

Today has been totally great. We woke up late and had a morning of imagined European holidays. There's a slight chance we might be going to Camelot when Keala gets here. Hilarious! Lunch was at the pub called Island Queen. I went for something called Welsh rarebit which I never would have braved if I didn't check with Pie first. It sounds awful but it's actually just melted cheese on french bread with salad. It was really good and plain. We also had shandies (sprite and beer) so it was a lovely brunch.

I decided to split off on my own today and headed for the British Museum. Lesley and I unfortunately never made it there and I knew it was top on my list. Made it there without too much confusion and wallowed in the all-out freeness of it. So free in fact that I filched a postcard. I figure England owes me! Flipping $4 water and all... Anyway, I saw a lot of neat stuff in the Egyptian Wing including real mummies and the actual Rosetta Stone. Apparently the Rosetta Stone is the reason why some people were able to figure out a bunch of ancient texts. It was pretty creepy looking.



Then I saw this insanely cool stone plaque from Mesopotamia called the Queen of the Night. This is like thousands of years old. She's really scary looking and the rumor is it might also be a depiction of Lilith, wife of the devil, or something like that. Anyway, I love the owls and want this as my back tattoo.



After the museum saturation set it, I took the train to Hyde Park. It's incredibly huge and very beautiful. Apparently, it was provided to the city by Prince Albert or someone and is the model for all European parks. It was very green and beautiful. In fact, London in general is very green which is a nice change from New York. There's a cute little statue of Peter Pan there. I sat on a bench at the park and read for school, then came home when the storm clouds started to blow in.

Pie fixed spaghetti and it was very yummy. Then we just chilled and watched tv. Tonight I need to keep reading these blasted school books. Til tomorrow...

Marc Almond, Joan Jett and a brass band

Pie and I had lots of fun today jaunting all over the city. After some yummy coffee at home (with lots of milk and sugar) we head out for the bus to the South Bank. it was a great and quick ride filled with lots of sights including st. patricks or something cathedral. We also rode by where I'm going to be living starting Sunday and it looked like a very cool area with lots of cute restaurants and things on this one street. Very close to Pie's house and close to Soho.

When we got to the South Bank, we walked it for a while and then crossed the Millenium Bridge into the Embankment area. Decided we were hungry so got a bagel with tuna and headed for this little park we saw. When we walked in, we realized we were just in time for the big brass band to begin a lunchtime concert. Here comes the funny part. The band was from Oklahoma!! I just friggin' left that rathole! ha ha. They played a medley of Oklahoma tunes while Pie and I lounged on deck chairs and ate tuna sammies. It was perfectly weird and a great welcome wagon into London.

After that we went walking through Soho and did some shopping. We stumbled into this store that sells this British indie brand called Lazy Oaf that I love. Lesley - remember the sweatshirt I bought last time we where here - it's that guys stuff! Weird coincidence number two, now that I think about it. I bought some shoes a this really cool shoe store called The Office. The look like Japanese Keds or something - very hipster and nerdy at the same time. I'm totally over black Converse. Let it be known.

At that point it was time for a beer so we were walking down Compton Street (I think) and Pie pointed out a place called Admiral Duncan. Apparently it was the sight of a bombing back in the 90s by some homophobic freak. Like 50 people were killed. I said that made me thirsty (just kidding) but figured I might as well go into the historic pub no matter how run of the mill it really was. As we were gazing out the window and looking at this freakazoid guy with his shirt off in the entryway, who comes round to talk to him but Marc Almond. I had JUST looked at his picture in the gay weekly I was browsing not two minutes before and there he was in the flesh. Third weird coincidence! Marc proceeds to chat this guy up who me and Pie decided HAD to be a rent boy. He even got his phone number. It was too much. And Marc Almond isn't looking too good, by the way. He looked very ... stretched.

Later on after some Japanese food we were back at the house watching tv. I made Pie put on that show Crossing Over with John Edwards cuz I hadn't seen it in years. Well who was there for a special reading? Joan freaking Jett, that's who. We nearly died when we saw her. She was trying to contact her recently deceased dog which I know is not funny but really it was just so intense. Rather. Unfortch the pooch did not make contact, only her friend's dead sister did. Them's the breaks, Joan.

It's now way past time to go to bed. Tomorrow I will take pictures - I don't know why I was such loser today. Guess I was trying to look like a local or something.

Cheers!

London's Called - and I've Answered

Well, I'm here! I woke up this morning with the lovely London clouds and rooftops out my window. I'm staying with Pie here in Clerkenwell which is very close to where we'll be staying once school gets started. Today we're going to walk around, go to soho and maybe do the slides at the Tate. :) I'll be sure to bring my camera along for the adventure. Which reminds me I forgot to buy a battery...ugh.

My travel yesterday was quite long, especially since I was traveling solo. I got up at 4am to be at the airport at 5 for my 7am flight. It was disgusting! But everything was fine and the flight was dull. The movies were awful. Don't watch Number 23. I turned it off and I was a captive audience! :) Got lots of sleep on the plane and am reading the new book by Khaled Houseni 0 the guy who wrote the Kite Runner. It's really good - totally recommend.

When we got to London, apparently there had been some "weather" so we had to circle the airport for a half hour. I'd never experienced that before and let me tell you I hated it. It freaked me out to turn sharp turns over and over through scary clouds no less. Of course the chipper woman behind me was like (in her Brit accent) oh isn't that lovely, oh look at those... I was like shut up bitch I am freaked out here! But we landed and after a customs snag, I was allowed into the motherland.

Last night Pie greeted me with a yummy dinner of fish cake and asparagus. Have you ever had fish cake? It's so good!!! It's kind of like a salmon croquette (which is something my mom used to make in the 70s) but way better. Lightly breaded and baked in the oven. Take that doubters, my first British meal was quite good! Hmph!

Better sign off. Love you all!