Finally have Wifi again!

I wrote this on the 17th. I've been without wifi for FREAKING ever! So now I do, and the complete euphoria I am feeling probably won't go away for a while. But yeah, until it does. Blog updateness!

Well, while the internet is down, I may as well do some updates! A LOT has gone on since I last wrote something, I can't believe how much time I let go by without jotting something down.

The Job
Working with The Performers has been pretty cool. It's definitely interesting working as an understudy. Sort of an ego deflator. But hey, I'm just happy to be working. Coming in as the new guy in a work environment where everyone started together ground up getting ready for plays has been pretty intimidating. My last 3 jobs (Ruehl, Madame T's, and Ka') were either brand new projects or revisions of old projects when I started. So there were a lot of people who didn't know each other. This time, it's just me. The people however are VERY nice. Very different personalities between all of them. But everyone is really cool and laid back, which totally scared the crap out of me when I was (and sort of still am) the only "Zany" one.

Just a quick run through of the people who are there.

Scott - From the states, (forget where) somewhere up North. Got stabbed about a week after I met him. Like really stabbed. Like now shows an x-ray to everyone of the part of the blade that broke of from the rest of the knife and stayed lodged in his arm. He's apparently quite the party guy. If I'm destined to replace anyone, my money is on this guy.

Kat - New Zealander. Reminds me a lot of my friend Sylvia from working at Ka'. Really smart, frank, and exceptionally short. She's the one I've hung out with the most. I really enjoy hanging out with her. She's very laid back and calm which sort of counter balances my craziness.

Agustin (Agus) - From Argentina, but has parents who speak English, so he is fluent. Haven't really gotten to know him on a deep personal level yet. As an actor he's got a really strong command of comedic timing. When I first talked to him, I thought he was from Germany.....*weird*

Carolyna (Caro) - She was born in Argentina, raised in San Diego and moved back here about 2 years ago. She's pretty open about talking about anything. She loves to talk about it and her girlfriend.......yeah, you heard right, she's a very confident lesbian, Which sort of takes some of the pressure of being the token gay off of me.

Raymond - Also from New Zealand. Apparently owned a hair salon and is NOT gay?!? Gotta love people who break stereotypes. He's really fun, oldest in the group by about 10 years (40) but takes good care of himself. but very "Cheeky" as my Scottish friend would say. Likes to poke fun at stuff. Really nice as well.

Heather - Also from the states. She has a Masters in Theatre. Super nice. I like her. The two other actresses that do her part are on tour doing the shows from last year. So she has to be there when both casts are rehearsing. She's like the ultimate trooper. I keep saying the cast should get her a cake, or crack to help keep her going.

Facundo (Facu) - Aside from having the most interesting name in the bunch, Facu reminds me a lot of my brother. Really chill and down to earth with a sometimes off-putting desire to preach life philosophy. Despite having a "wife" and a kid, he's oddly enthused about knowing about Alex's "romantic encounters". To the point where I've actually been uncomfortable once or twice. But seriously, he's nice.

Pablo - aka Bubbles. He's like the super technician. Lights, Sound, Stage. He does it all. Really nice. He seems to bug some of the guys when he tells them to do things, but most the frustration the guys feel towards Pablo, I don't really think is warranted. Again, super nice person. Glad I've met him.

Martin - aka the Boss. He's only 24, but he is WICKED talented in theatre. Like one or two days with him and I seriously feel like I've never acted before a day in my life. He can do it all, change the pace of a scene to comedy and then a split second later flip the switch to be dramatic. He's really good. I really didn't get the vibe that he was a big fan of mine, but I think I might be growing on him. We'll see.


So that's the group. Now as far as the job.

I feel sort of bad. I was given 3 scripts and expected to learn 5 parts. Totally something within my abilities, but I have just NOT had the drive to learn these lines. And the first 2 weeks, I honestly barely did a darn thing. Now it's getting to the point where they're wanting to rehearse with me in scenes and I'm looking like a total jerk by not having my lines memorized. I need to jump out of that habit for sure. Yesterday they tried to teach me the choreographies to the play "Wintertime." Today I did a run through of all them, and some of the people were amazed that I had retained so much. So I felt sort of great about that. The sad thing about the job still lies in the fact that I'm the understudy. I'm not getting paid as much and my main motivation for taking the job (free travel to other countries) is not for certain because of my position. This kind sucks big time for me but I'm trying to make the best of it.


The Living Situation.
I've been living in Marcellas room since the end of December. She gets back a week from Friday. And then I'm out. It's sort of sad thing because I like the apartment, but it will probably be for the best when I leave here (God I hope). Living in San Telmo has been ok. But I seriously feel weird about having fear walking home at night. To the point where the first month I didn't go out if I knew I was going to be out past the time the that Subway near my house closed. It's seriously not THAT bad, but it's known in the city for being not the best neighborhood. Also, there's been a little tension between my roommate and I. For the sake of trying to avoid making this blog entry a novel, We'll say that I'm not the tidiest roommate and it bothered Juan a little. That's the root of the problem. But I've been better , he's still finding things to nitpick me about, but I know I'm trying and not being NEARLY as sloppy as I was before. So that's what matters.

I've been looking into places to stay once I leave here next week. Thankfully, Jojo is getting a place that she said I could stay in until I get paid at my job the first week of march. After that point, I will probably have to live in a hostel or "pension." I've seen 2 of them. The first was ok, but I'd be sharing a room with potentially 3 other people and paying 600 pesos/month, which is CRAZY. The other was MUCH better for my price range and closer to my job and friends down here, but it totally made me think of what a bordello would look like, it was INSANELY hot, and there was no locker space to protect my extreme vaulables. The 2nd would make an ok LAST resort. I'll just have to keep looking. DEFINITELY keep your fingers crossed for me.



Money Situation
I'm so insanely broke it's not even funny anymore. Like I'm pulling out of what's left of my college fund which I'm supposed to be saving to buy a house whenever I come back to the states. I don't want to pull anymore out from it until I know that I'm for sure staying down here to see this theatre thing through. The hard part of all of this is that I don't know to what capacity I will be traveling (or at all) I'm going to have to hope that they'll just send me as an insurance thing or that someone else (or the same person) gets stabbed. Which I feel like a total jack@$$ for even saying. Looks like I'm going to have to try and have to find another job. I'm thinking tour guide or go-go dancer. We'll see what happens.



I think that's enough for now, this is probably a doozy of a long blog post. I'll just end with this fun little story.

Preface: So sometime in what was probably my Junior year in high school, I was at a Cross Country practice. We were all running around the block the school was on, and I thought it would be really funny to get in front of someone's in their running path and then stop suddenly, bend forward to the ground and say "quarter!" as if I had dropped one. It wasn't meant to be something sexual or for me to get aroused, truth be told the first victim of this was a track and cross country hot shot, that I swear only liked me when we were at practice together. After that for a number of years, this was something I did randomly to friends. Only because I never stopped finding it funny.

Story: Well......
Today I left my friends apartment and was walking in what I thought was the direction of the subway. I was counting my "monedas" (coins) when I accidently dropped a 10 cent piece. (Oh yes, you probably already know where this is going) Without even thinking twice about it, I totally bend at the hips and reach for the fhe coin, only to feel someone walk full force into my backside. I look up to see a man who is looking very surprised. So I shoot up from my bent over position like a rocket. A few "perdon"s are exchanged and we both kept walking until he started chatting me up. So I actually was able to have a conversation in spanish and talk to this guy for little until I realized that I was walking in the wrong direction of where I needed to go. I said my goodbyes to the guy, and he asks me if I'd like to exchange numbers and stay in touch. Short end of it, his name is Martin, he's Argentine, but teaches French for a living. Nice guy. (Assuming he's gay) I'm not sure he turns my head as far as looks go, but I definitely think he and I could be friends. And hands down he'll get the Alex Bayless Award for Best First Encounter in 2009.


Lastly, I miss everyone back home! Some of you people really need to dip into your savings and get the crap down here sometime! I would love to show some people around and get some real love from back home! :)