Today´s Adventure: Teatro Delusio

It all started when I got up out of bed this morning and thought to myself, “Jocelyn, you need to do something today.” After nearly three weeks of vacation with only two beautifully busy days of school to relieve me from the days that were more empty than full, I knew that staying inside was not an option. Breakfast, and then multiple calls to friends from school: “Do you want to go out this evening?” “Oh, sorry, I have a family event tonight! But will next weekend work?” “Please leave your message for…-Madelin-…after the tone.” “Oh, I can’t! I have to study for those upcoming tests. How about next weekend?” Next weekend, next weekend, next weekend. At this rate, I’m going to be booked up to my eyebrows for next weekend!
So, today is not my day for an accompanied outing. Well, I do need to buy stamps. That is as good an excuse as any to hop onto the train and ride into Campello for a little fresh air and leg-stretching! Strolling down to the tobacco shop where I will purchase my international sellas, I pass an interesting looking newspaper shop. Always up for a little worldly news, I stop for a visit on my way back, and there it is! On a side wall, surrounded by little notices calling for house cleaners or someone to care for an elderly friend, a poster catches my eye: Teatro Delusio. I don’t know what this is, but I know that teatro translates to theater! And is that today’s date printed at the bottom?! What luck! I’m off to the theater tonight!
Six hours, a little homework, and a lot of dawdling later, I find myself back in the same theater where I sang a little Whitney Houston some time ago. Only this time, the stage is set so that it looks like backstage. It turns out to be a show based on marionettes and masks, done entirely with physical comedy, mime, and music. Three men from a company based in Germany realize an array of unique and captivating characters, from the snobby primadonna to the fearful, book-wormish techie. From eerie moments with the backstage phantom girl to tears of laughter when the clumsy techie gets flipped entirely upside down after wedging himself accidentally between rungs of a ladder, this production moved seamlessly from one moment and emotion to another. I am a critical spectator and I don’t often give a standing ovation, but I stood at the end of this performance! I give you one word: delightful.
Thinking over the nuances of the play, I managed to get myself a little lost and missed my tram. So, instead of sit for nearly half an hour next to that strange looking man with the black hat and stubble, I headed to the cheerily lit Trainside Café for a look around at the delicious pastries. The bar-tender immediately came over and started conversation, describing the tiramisu and mousse. I picked up some new vocabulary, tried a new pastry with a tuna, tomato, and egg filling, and had some amiable conversation with the Argentinean tender before hoping back on the tram and heading home for the night to describe the says happenings to my host mom.
And the moral of the story is, go out and buy those stamps –or tic-tacs, or whatever! Those errands are not chores but adventures, because you never know what will happen, where you’ll end up, or what sort of spectacle will come your way.