little town it's Not

what started as just another sunday morning ended on a rather optimistic note.

theater workshops for gawad kalinga's teens started today and man were they fun. so fun i was laughing all the time.

it was held at payatas, at the blue eagle village after lunch and getting there is a sacrifice in itself. but thanks to new friends and to earl's ride, the trip to and from was bearable. when we arrived at the place, it seemed deserted and as if no one knew we were going there or what we were up to. the people there had good reason to be so because we were an hour late. proves why going there is a sacrifice in itself. but we eventually met with stephen, the leader of them teens and so we started looking for a place to do the workshop. the chapel was full of concerned parents in a meeting and the multi-purpose hall couldn't be opened so we used this open space where little kids play makeshift billiards.

and so the fun started.

thanks to pat and wilmark from peta and their b.i.t.a.w. format of facilitating theater workshops, we had the time of our lives. considering most of these teens never had a clue to what is theater [except for the darna they see on tv ] or that some of them weren't even interested at all to theater or that some of them were real shy at first or that some of them were older than me. everyone's inhibitions disappeared after a few minutes. yup, that quick.

pretty soon, yas and gian and earl and i found ourselves participating and losing our inhibitions as well. we were just simply having fun. with games, with each other's unique attributes, with each other. but in between each shriek of laughter was a dose of information that each of us, most especially to those gk teens [siga, they called themselves] learned, bringing them closer to what theater really is and what talents they have in each of them.

pretty soon, yas and gian and earl and i found ourselves running around like snakes or standing like appliances or sitting like french fries or meeting new friends like each of the eight or so that were there.

there were younger and real cute kids around too. sharing their smiles and helping us out in guessing scenes. what was cuter is that whatever we did, they will do too, in their own cute way without really disturbing the workshop.

but even if they did at times with their shouting as they chase each other around, they remained cute and happy making us happy in the end.

all mush, i know. but it totally feels differently when you are there. it is as if you touch each other's lives. sounds real sappy. but you do. you do move and end up being moved.

earl and yas were singing belle's little town little people song while we were entering the blue eagle village and it was true. it was not that big a village full of people most of us belittle. but in every single one of those little kids mimicking our moves, every single teen doing theater stuff, every single mom checking her daughter's hair and sharing her restroom with me, was a spark.
i spark that was devoid of pretense and full of promise.

you enter that village and you hope every other village gives you the same feeling. maybe others are a lot cleaner or a lot more decorated or a lot more grandiose but it all boils down to that unique spark. little it may seem, it sure is one spark i wish i encounter every week.

one spark that ignites into better better things.

lisnin to masquerade! from the phantom, for the nth time now
sortof readin bir's e-tin services
feelin kinda amused with life and self. i want to steal some covers, share some skin 'cause it is a sunday evening and rain is falling. woohoo