Well, we made through the fist week here at Es Artes unscathed! I'm teaching Props (Utileria) here with classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. I began with an Intro in my background and we began with a simple drawing exercise and paper mask project; I wanted them to make them as quick as possible so we could get onstage to do a movement workshop, but it turned into a 2 day project, as I wasn't expecting that some of them hadn't really ever used scissors before. Regardless the masks turned out great;
There were a huge variety of masks and approaches, and we got on stage on Wed. for a chance to take the masks for a test drive! The students had fun & I got a chance to pretend I was qualified to be a movement coach. :)
I then did a simple wirework excercise, turning lengths of wire into 3D cubes and little chairs, again, the range of levels of detail and hand skill varies widely, but all the students are very enthusiastic and eat up any chance to learn, even in Robbin's scheduling & budgeting class!
They are a really great group and I begin my spanish lessons in earnest on Tuesday, as I remember terms, words and expressions, but am useless at forming sentences in the proper tense or at asking any but the simplest questions.
One more photo, taken at lunch yesterday;
from the rooftop patio at Verde Limon, a nearby cafe with delicious food, that is affiliated with an organization called Ayuda en Accion which sells local handicrafts, foods, weaving and preserves and is a donor to the Es Artes Project. So look forward to getting a jar of Pineapple-Carrot marmalade from me!
Also, if you're interested in finding out more about the project or even making a donation, follow this link and read to your heart's content!
And a link to CUSO international's site, who is making it possible for all the volunteers to be here without having to sacrifice three months of income, or pay for materials for courses out of their own pockets!
