Monday, March 1, 2010

The Last Day of School

We paid our last visit to Escuela Taller this morning. Valentin and I screwed some hinges onto the masking flats while Frank and his eager female apprentice Arely and tiny Nelson did some final touch ups to the paint job on the ticket/information booth. For the benefit of Edward's rehearsals on the modular stage, which for the time being is set up at Escuela Taller, Anselmo and I taped out the chapel's column locations on the floor. Before Frank and I packed up all the personal tools we had brought south with us, fun-loving David presented each of us with a small plaque he had made. On the back of mine he had neatly penciled in: DE DAVID PARA TED UN GRAN AMIGO. GRACIAS POR COMPARTIR EXPERIENCIAS. Then Mario surprised me with a hanging 'sign' of my first name, delicately cut from a piece of steel by hand and distressed tastefully and artfully. In both cases all I could say was 'gracias'; I hope they could both tell by the look on my face how deeply I was touched.

After a quiet lunch at Gringo's (many of the restaurants in Suchitoto, including Villa Balanza, are closed Mondays - another Stratford parallel) we returned to the offices of Es Artes and took measurements of the courtyard. Perhaps the dream of an outdoor performance/rehearsal space there will become a reality some day. If a stage under the magnificent mango tree is ever built, it's unlikely I will be fortunate enough to be involved in its construction. But anyone who knows me could guess I would try to at least put my oar in the water.

It was overcast and close today; the pool was a welcome sanctuary. Having finished what we came down here to accomplish, our energy finally deserted us this afternoon. We roused ourselves for an early evening walk downtown. While sipping a cerveza at the Internet Cafe we ended up having an interesting chat with a young professor from San Francisco who regularly visits Central America to teach art. After saying farewell to her, we stumbled down the tumblestone streets to our hotel, stopping en route to pick up the pizza we had ordered from around the corner an hour earlier. We carried it back to El Tejado and shared it on the dining terrace with our two favourite waitresses/desk clerks. Rosa Alba and Yany. We (Meester Frahn and Meester Teh) are the lone guests at the hotel tonight, so their duties are light.) Their English is as limited as our Spanish, but their dark eyes had lit up when I asked them if they felt like having some pizza tonight. 'Pizza!?! Si! Gracias!' Some words are universal. The boss had been part of the pizza 'conversation' and her reaction had been a sweet smile, so I knew we had not violated any rules of etiquette or hotel policy and that the girls wouldn't be in any trouble.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. Sadly, it will soon be time to say goodbye to the people, the views, the heat, the roosters and dogs, the cobblestoned hills, the beautiful town of Suchitoto .

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