A truly blessed Thanksgiving

Last week seemed like an eternity for some reason, but things went pretty well. The workshops went better than I had hoped and I think they really enjoyed the exercises we did.

I think my favorite was the "characterization" workshop on Thursday, which happened to be Thanksgiving. I started by talking for awhile about different Acting Theory like objective, actions, given circumstances, and overcoming obstacles. I was worried these concepts would be too foreign and not necessarily applicable to the kind of work they do. But I was wrong. They embraced the ideas and asked questions, eager to understand better. I was really touched by their desire to learn new things.

At the end of the workshop, I had them perform monologues and performed one myself to show them the format. They had never heard of a monologue before. The work they did was beautiful. Some had memorized parts from skits they perform in the slums, but others had written pieces themselves. They were extremely brave and took direction well and seeing their work improve was incredibly satisfying.

At the end, I asked them to reflect on what they had learned, what was helpful and what wasn't. They actually really enjoyed the monologue exercise and claimed it helped them go deeper into the characters than they did before. To conclude the workshop, I explained the holiday Thanksgiving and what it represents in our culture. They usually pray in a circle after rehearsals, so I volunteered to offer the prayer as a closing to my week of workshops. We stood together in a circle with arms linked and I gave thanks to God for my new friends and the opportunity to learn together in order to make a difference.

That evening, I went back into Nairobi and joined some of the other students from the program doing their IDS in the city. We cooked a simple meal of macaroni and cheese, rolls, maize on the cob, and mixed vegetables. As we shared the food around a small coffee table in our humble little apartment, we went around and talked about those things for which we are thankful. Let me tell you, we had a lot to say. While I missed my family and friends terribly, I thanked God for the unique gathering and realized that this experience truly epitomized the holiday.