Day 63:
I tried to, but didn’t, finish the review packet that I’m making for the kids so I just had them write a journal entry about what they did this past weekend in class. It ended up taking up the whole class because I had them write about about Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Monday since they were off. So that took care of my class time. I opened up the MacBook and had Photo Booth running throughout some of the class so that I’d have videos of my kids. I put the screen to sleep so, despite the green light next to my camera, they had no idea they were being recorded. After fourth period some of the kids came up to the desk because one of them saw the video and we had a mini-photo shoot as I played around with some of the effects.
After class I went back to the Tide Table for lunch. No one had been shopping since we ran out of bread and cheese so I decided to go get a sandwich from Tide Table. I got the pulled pork which was very good. After that I came back to the teacher’s lounge, played around on the web and then went to dance rehearsal. Robyn had asked someone to come watch her dance class to see if there was anything outstanding that she wasn’t noticing. They did about two run throughs of the opening and all of the dancers hadn’t even arrived yet when they were summoned to play rehearsal. So I went to rehearsal and decided I’d stick around for a while. Professor had asked Eric and I to do some drumming in between scenes so I decided to get two of the bongos and play around with those during practice. I ended up staying for all of practice. They only did three scenes but they were the three hardest and three longest scenes of the play. I had fun, playing the bongos when I wasn’t really supposed to, making faces at cast members and taking embarrassing photos of everybody.
After practice I went to the resort for dinner. I never eat out for lunch and dinner but lunch was unplanned and I wasn’t a huge fan of the dinner selection today. When I got back the people that were in the trailer were talking about the play and logistics thereof and the rest were in the library.
Rant time. One would think that after coming to the Marshall Islands for 11 years, that Garrod would have figured out how to operate a production. He doesn’t. We didn’t send out letters for solicitation until two weeks before opening. I designed the tickets and ad for the newspaper last night. We don’t have microphones. The play is outside, right by the street. There’s a chain fence that runs along the side of the stage. Therefore, all sound and light from the street (i.e., taxis, people, dogs) will interfere with the play. The set isn’t built and we start next Tuesday. WE don’t have lights; some guy in Majuro has to make the lights at home and hook them up to a switchboard because of what Garrod is asking for. No one can work the lights. He wants a speaker in the back of the audience so the people can hear – but we don’t have microphones, cables, speakers or a soundboard. Garrod, now just pissing me people off, complained today that he doesn’t like the color of the stage. I know he doesn’t expect us to paint it. Anyone for that matter. We open in 6 days, we don’t have time to let paint dry. It’s just a mess. Most of this stuff should have at least been mapped out, before we left Hanover. I understand that planning this far ahead in Majuro just doesn’t work because people are just not dependable but the organizational stuff, a list of what needs to be done, contacts for certain things, delegations, etc, should have been done ages ago. Now we’re running around on a wild goose chase trying to please him.
Let me just say that I’m glad I don’t plan to go to grad school or anything in which I’d need his letter of recommendation. I’ll be royally screwed if I change my mind but honestly I wouldn’t want it anyway. That’s what’s interesting about this trip, a lot of the people here are either Teacher Ed or his Presidential Scholars so they are tied to him in a way that they kind of have to do what he asks. And the crazy thing is, he DEFINTELY uses that to his advantage. Derek has a very intricate government plan that he began before we even got to Majuro. Garrod has him basically co-directing and now acting in the play. Edie is trying to apply to three pretty competitive summer jobs and Garrod confronted her about not doing enough with the play. Despite the fact that she meets with characters every weekend, goes to every play rehearsal and handles the little jobs that Garrod doesn’t want to do, he’s right. He’s given Eric WAY too much stuff to do. Eric’s designing the program which wouldn’t be that much except he needs information from so many different places and just about everything is in Marshallese and English. Instead of using the translators that he has used for the script, Garrod has Eric finding his own translators. And let’s not forget that on day one Garrod said, “Teaching is your first priority. Don’t let anything get in the way of teaching. That’s why you came here.” Irony at it’s finest ladies and gentlemen.
With that said, if Garrod asks ridiculous things of me, in so many words, I tell him I’m busy teaching. I’m no more busy than any of the other volunteers but I refuse to be dangled by a string like they are. The crazy thing is, they all know it. They complain about it daily yet they continue to do these odd jobs for him. Oh yeah, the letters for money that we took to various companies around Majuro, Garrod didn’t even write them. Robyn did. And then Eric had to distribute them. Whatever, I came here to teach. Not for Garrod. Not for Hamlet. And I’m sticking to it.
Anyway, the day ended with me finishing up some grading and doing a 15 minute core workout; gotta get my beach body ready! The days are getting closer, only 12 left before I leave this place. They couldn’t come quickly enough. Until next time, from Majuro, bar lo yok.
No comments:
Post a Comment